Winter Hangover: Blues lose 4-2 at home to Hurricanes
ST. LOUIS -- Jeff Skinner says the holiday season is finally over for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Skinner got a go-ahead goal in the third period and Derek Ryan scored twice, helping the Hurricanes beat the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Thursday night.
Carolina ended a two-game losing streak and won for just the second time in five games since Dec. 28.
"Coming out of the (Christmas) break, we really hadn't gotten to the level that we were before it," Skinner said. "Now, we're back on the right track. Maybe this will kick-start something."
Skinner scored a power-play goal with 6:08 remaining to make it 3-2, and then Ryan added an empty-netter for his second of the game with 1:19 left. Skinner's goal, his 14th of the season, deflected off St. Louis defenseman Jay Bouwmeester.
"It took a good bounce and fortunately, it went in," Skinner said.
Jay McClement also scored for Carolina, which won three in a row going into Christmas.
Cam Ward made 21 saves to improve to 14-11-1.
Joel Edmundson and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for St. Louis, which was coming off a 4-1 win over Chicago in the Winter Classic on Monday.
Ken Hitchcock: "We needed to really dig in and regroup with each other. We didn't have enough people doing it today." #stlblues pic.twitter.com/ldrMAzXdCt
— FOX Sports Midwest (@FSMidwest) January 6, 2017
Jake Allen made 25 saves, but lost to Carolina for the first time in four starts.
Carolina coach Bill Peters said it was one of the Hurricanes best efforts this season.
"I liked us in a lot of areas," Peters said. "A good effort throughout. I thought everyone found a way to contribute."
Skinner's goal snapped Carolina's 1-for-26 skid with the man advantage over the past nine games.
Ryan, who has five goals, broke a nine-game scoreless streak with his second multigoal game of the season.
"This was really big," Ryan said. "This is the part of the year when points are huge. Obviously, we wanted to have a strong game tonight."
McClement, a former member of the Blues, tied it at 2 with 8:58 left in the second period. That came after Tarasenko scored his team-high 19th goal of the season midway through the second.
"This was just a good performance by us all night," McClement said. "We took care of the puck, didn't give them much. A pretty mature game by us."
Allen was upset with the Blues effort. St. Louis is 2-4 in its last six home contests.
"I thought this was our worst game of the year," Allen said. "We need to look at ourselves in the mirror after this (one)."
Notes: Carolina RW Ty Rattie, claimed on waivers Wednesday from the Blues, played 17 shifts covering 12:59 in his first game with his new team. Rattie was a healthy scratch in his last 15 games in St. Louis. "I feel like I fit right in," Rattie said. "It's been a crazy day or two, but it's going to work out." . The teams will meet twice this season, the final contest coming April 8 in Carolina. . St. Louis D Carl Gunnarsson missed the contest after suffering a lower-body injury in the third period of the Winter Classic.
UP NEXT
Carolina: Plays at Chicago on Friday night.
St. Louis: Hosts Dallas on Saturday in the fifth game of a season-high six-game homestand.
