Hurricanes score seven in win against Blues

ST. LOUIS -- Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis each scored twice for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 7-2 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Saturday.

Martin Necas and Brett Pesce each had a goal and an assist, and Antti Raanta made 30 saves for the Hurricanes (43-15-7), who had lost five of six. Teuvo Teravainen, Sebastian Aho and Ian Cole each had two assists.
"It wasn't one of our better games," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It's just that everything we shot went in. It's just the law of averages. Clearly tonight was that. I don't know that we played great. Two periods we were fine. In the third period, naturally you lead by three and you have a tendency to lay back. This was a good win."
Pavel Buchnevich scored twice, Robert Thomas had two assists, and Ville Husso made 21 saves for the Blues (35-20-9), who have lost five of six and nine of 12.
"Just the buy-in to [the] playoff style of hockey," St. Louis forward Brayden Schenn said of what's lacking for the Blues. "Wins are tough now. You've got to be able to grind this time of year, and we're just not doing enough of it."

Necas' shorthanded goal gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 2:37 of the first period. He carried the puck into the offensive zone, cut across the ice and scored with a wrist shot from just below the right face-off dot that went off the left leg of St. Louis defenseman Justin Faulk.
"You're not on the PK to score goals but to kill the penalty," Necas said. "But when you have the opportunity, we want to score as well. Of course, that definitely helps."
Jarvis made it 2-0 at 1:07 of the second period when he beat Blues defenseman Colton Parayko to the puck and scored from low in the left circle.
Pesce pushed the lead to 3-0 at 3:16 with a wrist shot from the high slot.
Buchnevich cut it to 3-1 at 13:12 when he redirected a Nick Leddy pass past Raanta. The assist was Leddy's first point since being acquired in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings on Monday.
Svechnikov's power-play goal made it 4-1 at 14:38. He scored on a one-timer from the right circle.
Buchnevich made it 4-2 on the power play at 6:30 of the third period for his 100th NHL goal in his 356th game. He scored from the slot on a wrist shot that trickled through Raanta.
Svechnikov scored into an empty net at 15:05 to make it 5-2. It was his NHL career-high 25th goal in his 62nd game, and it came on his 22nd birthday.
"I mean, my birthday present is to win this game," Svechnikov said. "That's the fun part. I try to play my best. I know goals will come for me for sure.
"We were quick to the pucks tonight. We take the lucky bounces we got and we tried to grind away. We've got to keep that up."

Nino Niederreiter scored into an empty net at 15:57 to make it 6-2.
Jarvis scored at 17:55 for the 7-2 final, tipping Cole's point shot.
St. Louis outshot Carolina 15-5 in the third.
"Third period, I thought we were the better team," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "We pulled the goalie early and they scored two empty-net goals and that was the end of it. But the way we played the third is the way we have to play hockey in my opinion. We were way more aggressive, on our toes, heavier to play against, heavier sticks, direct, north. Just had the will.
"I didn't think our start was that bad to be honest with you, but we did fall behind. First period was OK. Second period, we get scored on there pretty quick. I thought that had a real impact on our team that period."
NOTES: Svechnikov scored 24 goals in 68 games in 2019-20. ... The Hurricanes scored seven goals for the third time this season. ... Carolina center Jordan Staal won 15 of 21 face-offs (71 percent). ... Blues forward David Perron's eight-game point streak ended (14 points; 10 goals, four assists). ... St. Louis forward Vladimir Tarasenko was minus-4. Faulk and forwards Thomas, Buchnevich and Brandon Saad each was minus-3.