Shattenkirk's shootout goal lifts Blues past Hurricanes 3-2

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Shootouts have become Shattenkirk time for the St. Louis Blues.

Kevin Shattenkirk scored the winner in the tiebreaker for the second straight night, and the Blues beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Friday night for their fourth straight win.

"It helps when you get to go a little more often," said Shattenkirk, whose shootout goal on Thursday beat Nashville 5-4. "It helps when you're trying to put your team up by a goal and (you're) not down by a goal. That pressure is tremendous, especially on the road."

Ryan Reaves and David Backes scored in regulation for the Blues -- who netted two goals in the game's first 2:35 before the Hurricanes rallied to send the game into overtime.

Jake Allen made 26 saves before stopping all three Carolina shooters in the tiebreaker.

Defensemen Justin Faulk and Ryan Murphy scored for Carolina, which had its three-game winning streak snapped, but the Hurricanes have earned points in nine of 11 January games.

"We play hard. We compete," Carolina captain Eric Staal said. "We showed that even when we weren't winning games. It's been tight, it's been competitive. We know we can compete with most teams in this league -- any team in this league -- and tonight was no different."

Anton Khudobin made one save but allowed two goals before he was pulled 2:35 in and replaced by Cam Ward, who stopped all 29 shots he faced.

Carolina coach Bill Peters said his players "were apologizing to (Khudobin) before (he) even got within 50 feet of the bench."

Shattenkirk beat Ward with a wrist shot in the second round of the shootout, and Allen stopped Staal with his pads to end it and give the Blues -- 9-0-1 in their past 10 games -- their second shootout win over Carolina this season.

"I think just being able to watch shooters go before you helps a lot," Shattenkirk said. "I keep it simple with my moves, and I think I saw an opening and took my shot."

Both teams had chances to take the lead in the third period. Ward stopped a streaking Reaves from point-blank range midway through the frame, and in a bizarre sequence, Allen apparently didn't see a routine shot from Jeff Skinner that hit the inside of the left post but didn't cross the line.

Two of Carolina's young defensemen scored to erase an early two-goal deficit. Faulk pulled the Hurricanes to 2-1 with a slap shot through traffic with 9:03 left in the first, and Murphy tied it with a slap shot that appeared to hit Blues defenseman Barret Jackman's stick on its way past Allen.

"I just like the fact we didn't cave in," Peters said.

Such a rally seemed unlikely after St. Louis took control early.

Reaves took a slick pass from Steve Ott -- who was behind the goal line -- and buried the puck past Khudobin. Backes chased the Carolina goalie 97 seconds later when he beat him with a wrist shot from the back of the right circle.

St. Louis couldn't get anything past Ward until the tiebreaker.

"We had our chances, and their goalie made some big saves," Reaves said. "I think they kind of woke up after the first period and had us on our heels a little bit, and then we responded well in the third. We just couldn't put the puck in the net."

Noteworthy

• St. Louis C Marcel Goc, acquired earlier this week from Pittsburgh, assisted on Reaves' goal for his first point with the Blues.
• RW Alexander Semin was a healthy scratch for the fourth straight game for the Hurricanes. Carolina fell to 9-11-2 without him this season.
• The Blues didn't have C Patrik Berglund and C Jori Lehtera, who both sustained upper-body injuries at Nashville on Thursday.