Pyotr Kochetkov turned away all 24 shots he faced to carry the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-0 shutout victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday at Enterprise Center.
Following a scoreless opening period, Carolina broke through with two goals in a 20-second span during the second frame. Sean Walker scored his first goal of the season with a wrist shot at 4:45, assisted by Jackson Blake and Sebastian Aho. Jesperi Kotkaniemi quickly doubled the lead at 5:05 on another wrist shot, set up by Jordan Martinook and Seth Jarvis.
The Hurricanes extended their cushion late in the period when Logan Stankoven beat St. Louis goaltender Joel Hofer with a wrist shot at 13:35 off a pass from Jarvis. Nikolaj Ehlers capped the scoring at 4:30 of the third period on the power play, converting a wrist shot assisted by Aho and Andrei Svechnikov.
Carolina finished 1 of 1 on the power play while killing off the lone power play awarded to St. Louis. Hofer made 35 saves on 39 shots for the Blues as Carolina held a 39-24 advantage in shots on goal.
The victory improved Carolina to 9-2-2 on the season, while St. Louis moved to 5-5-1 after having its two-game winning streak halted.
Both clubs return to action on Tuesday, October 27. The Hurricanes host the Boston Bruins, while the Blues host the Montreal Canadiens.
