It was a tough night for the Carolina Hurricanes (28-15-4), who went into the night leading the Eastern Conference, as […]
It was a tough night for the Carolina Hurricanes (28-15-4), who went into the night leading the Eastern Conference, as the St. Louis Blues (18-21-8) barred them from acquiring any points in the standings. The Hurricanes, without their trusty – albeit a tad rusty – shutdown defenseman Jaccob Slavin, gave away more than they could recoup all in one insane frame. Let’s get into the details, folks.
It seems like everywhere you turn, there is a ceremony before a game. Tonight was no different. After attending Sergei Federov’s number retirement in Detroit yesterday, the Hurricanes turned right around to attend the Blues’ Hall of Fame ceremony.
As the game began, it was the textbook description of a low-event period. Nary a goal with just a single penalty on the board as Brayden Schenn took a seat in the box for holding against Andrei Svechnikov.
The second frame was nothing like the first.
After Logan Mailloux was called for tripping Taylor Hall, the Hurricanes went on the power play. But it didn’t go according to plan.
Attempting to keep the puck deep in the zone, Nikolaj Ehlers sent it back from the point. However, former Hurricanes co-Captain Justin Faulk brought it back to earth with his mitt and flew out of the zone. Passing things to the forward crew, Faulk gave it to Otto Stenburg, who immediately sent it to Nick Bjugstad, who put it into the top corner of the net.
Former Carolina Hurricanes Captain Justin Faulk paws it down and gets it to Otto Stenberg on the penalty kill. Stenberg gets it to Nick Bjugstad and he pops it into the top corner for a shorthanded goal and the first goal of the game.#CarolinaCulture#STLBlues#NHLpic.twitter.com/rs5YHbl52d
— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) January 14, 2026
Jesperi Kotkaniemi followed up with an attempt to spark some life into the deflated Hurricanes, but it was instead Blues goaltender Joel Hofer who pumped up his own team. With a close chance to tie things up with the net wide open, the quick glove of Hofer quelled it.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi had TWO solid chances, and Joel Hofer made TWO unreal saves!#CarolinaCulture#STLBlues#NHLpic.twitter.com/jYDvRP335u
— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) January 14, 2026
Soon after, the Blues once again found twine as they managed a four-player transaction in the Hurricanes’ zone, with Dalibor Dvorsky’s stick being the final destination before shipping it into the net.
Four different St. Louis Blues players touched the puck in the offensive zone rush ahead of Dalibor Dvorsky's goal
— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) January 14, 2026
Blues with the two-goal lead#CarolinaCulture#STLBlues#NHLpic.twitter.com/2VjYtNlFmJ
Even still, the Blues wanted more, and heaven help, they got it.
Jordan Martinook and Jordan Staal sailed into enemy territory with the puck, working for a shorthanded chance to get something going. But Jordan Kyrou really just said no, flying away after Schenn got him the puck. Kyrou passed it to Jimmy Snuggerud at the right faceoff circle, where he ripped a wrister past Brandon Bussi.
The Jordans (Staal and Martinook) carried the puck into the offensive zone shorthanded, but the chance was short-lived as another Jordan (Jordan Kyrou) took it the other way
— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) January 14, 2026
Jimmy Snuggerud with the power play goal with helpers from Kyrou and Brayden Schenn#CarolinaCulture… pic.twitter.com/ZyInvuxvDt
That was all in the second period, folks! It was twenty minutes of insanity!
Alas, the third frame was about the same story as the first. One of the most entertaining moments of the period was Colton Parayko trying to sneak by playing with a broken stick. A little shenanigans never hurt anybody, right?
Staal and Martinook made a try for a goal after Hofer mishandled the puck – the net ripe for the taking like a pie on a windowsill – but it wasn’t meant to be.
The pure embodiment of lacking puck luck#CarolinaCulture#STLBlues#NHLpic.twitter.com/sowcRhKfkZ
— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) January 14, 2026
The Hurricanes made a push to get something, anything, but they were met with the joy of a 33-save shutout from the opponent. Hofer’s incredible play earned him his fourth shutout of the season, tying him for the league’s lead alongside Ilya Sorokin and Jesper Wallstedt, as well as tying him for the franchise record in a single season.
“Obviously, not great,” Jordan Staal said in his assessment of the game.”I think we were hoping for an easy one, really. It just seemed like we were kind of hoping for an outscoring, and ‘we’re going to get a few chances, we’ll give them a couple, and we’ll see what happens’ kind of game.
“We weren’t really ready to kind of just play that forechecking and play the stress game we’ve been talking about. …There wasn’t a whole lot of spark from anyone throughout the lineup.”
Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour’s thoughts on the game rang similarly to those of the Hurricanes Captain.
“Right from the start, I knew we had no life, and you can just see how we were turning pucks over – it’s not how we play. They capitalized; they played a good team game, and structured how they’re supposed to do. And we were trying to do other things…never works.”
Category: General Sports
