RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Brendan Smith scored his first goal of the season with 2:57 remaining as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Saturday night.
Brady Skjei and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes, who avoided a second straight loss after holding a lead in third period. Andrei Svechnikov and Tony DeAngelo both had two assists. Alex Lyon had 27 saves in his Carolina debut.
Pavel Buchnevich and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the Blues. Joel Hofer, playing in his second NHL game, had 21 saves.
Tarasenko tied it 2-2 as he got his own rebound in front and slipped the puck past Lyon 48 seconds into the third period.
The Hurricanes scored 75 seconds into the game when Skjei scored his first of the season. That tied for the fastest goal at the beginning of a game for Carolina this season.
Aho doubled the Hurricanes' lead with a power-play’s goal at 3:44 of the second.
Buchnevich knocked in a rebound with 1 second left on a St. Louis power play with 7 1/2 minutes left in the middle period to pull the Blues to 2-1.
TAKE YOUR TURN
Lyon became the third goalie used this season by the Hurricanes. All three of them are in their first seasons with the Carolina franchise. Lyon followed Frederik Andersen, who’s 9-2-0, and Antti Raanta, who’s 1-0-0 in two outings, in the crease for the Hurricanes. Raanta has been out with an injury since last Saturday.
WE KNOW HIM
Blues defenseman Justin Faulk played his first game in Raleigh as a member of the opposing team. He was drafted by Carolina in 2010 and played in 559 games for the Hurricanes before a September 2019 trade. He was a Hurricanes co-captain – sharing that distinction with current captain Jordan Staal in 2017-18 -- and All-Star, while holding the franchise record for goals among defensemen with 85.
UP NEXT
Blues: Host Edmonton on Sunday night to begin a three-game homestand.
Hurricanes: At Vegas on Tuesday night to start a six-game road trip.
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