ST. LOUIS – If the first period was any indication, the St. Louis Blues would be in trouble against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Although Carolina was coming off a 4-1 win over Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins the night before, the Hurricanes carried that momentum into Saturday’s game against the Blues.

Thanks to Joel Hofer, who stood firm and kept the Blues at bay with one goal after another, St. Louis scored three goals in 3:09 minutes and the Blues defeated the Hurricanes 4-3 at Enterprise Center for their second victory in a row.

Mathieu Joseph and Jake Neighbors each had a goal and an assist, Philip Broberg extended his points streak to a Blues record to begin a season and career for his new team with a defenseman, and Hofer stood tall and improved with 37 saves to 3:0. 0 for the Blues (4-2-0).

“For me, a lot of it started on the offensive blue line,” Blues coach Drew Bannister said of the 1-0 deficit after a 19-4 outshot. “I think we had 12 turnovers on the offensive blue line. When you do that, you start watching the game. We didn’t play to the goal line, we weren’t able to score a forecheck. Against a team like that that passes the puck so well, skilled strikers who just integrate into their game.

“I thought overall in the second period our group was focused on playing to the goal line and that allowed our forwards to step in on the forecheck, get our ‘D’ more active to keep the pucks alive on the walls . Then…” Offensive opportunities arose for us.”

The Blues didn’t have to come into the locker room and yell at each other. They knew what it was and what needed to change.

“I think we just turned the puck over too many times and then gave them a little too much time in our zone,” said forward Kasperi Kapanen, whose goal in the third period ultimately led to the win. “I think after the first half we played some solid hockey.”

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Andrei Svechnikov, who had a goal and an assist, wasted no time giving Carolina a 1-0 lead just 1:21 into the game after Colton Parayko lost a puck passed behind the Blues’ net by Ryan Suter. Carolina pounced and Sebastian Aho found Svechnikov on the right side of the net, who an outstretched Hofer almost kicked out but couldn’t quite get enough of.

Carolina continued to give in and without Hofer’s 18 saves in that period, the Blues would have faced a larger deficit.

“I think it’s pretty cliché to say we need to get the pucks deep, but honestly we just turned the pucks over too many times in the neutral zone and tried to be too sweet,” forward Dylan Holloway said. “When we kind of got into our game and got the pucks down low and hit their ‘D,’ I think that slowed the game down a little bit. Ultimately it led to a little more O-zone time and more offensive success.”

That changed in the second period when the Blues finally managed to get pucks behind the Carolina defense, they went to work and it was the line of Joseph, Brayden Schenn and Holloway that led the way, and that line got the ball rolling Joseph made it 2-1 and revived the Blues at 10:22.

Joseph and Schenn went to work on the forecheck and Schenn won a puck while patiently waiting to find an open Joseph in the slot, but narrowly missed it. Joseph’s brother, PO Joseph, got trapped at the blue line and got the puck back to Schenn, who found Mathieu Joseph in the slot for a spin and shot the ball upcourt.

“’Schenner’ kept the ball down there and passed after it, but he just missed me and went back to the PO, and after that he made a good play,” Mathieu said. “I was in exactly the right spot and turned in the right direction and was happy it went in.”

“We put the pucks deep and kind of went to work. It’s a team that plays extremely fast and has fast players. When you increase their attacks on the line, you spend a lot of time in your own zone. After that, I think that…” The whole team kind of followed. We got a few quick and big saves from Hofer. I thought it was definitely a good second and third.

The Neighbors gave the Blues a 2-1 lead at 11:35 with a beautiful shot from the top of the right circle with Pavel Buchnevich serving as a screen. It came after Zack Bolduc made a strong play, knocking the puck off Jack Roslovic’s stick and allowing the Neighbors to turn around and shoot.

“Even in the last game, ‘Boldy’ had an outstanding game,” said Bannister. “I thought his third season was probably one of the best I’ve ever seen as a Blue. I thought he was still trying to finish his checks. His bat was much, much better and it’s starting to break up plays and create offense the other way.”

Holloway’s spectacular goal made it 3-1 at 13:31, when the Blues brought the puck up the ice into the zone, Broberg confidently maneuvered between two skaters and Holloway narrowly went into the net; He went between the legs and tossed it up and over Kochetkov and had the wherewithal to tap it in for good measure.

“I felt like it was the only thing I could do,” Holloway said. “I was close, so I thought why not give it a try. I’ve had a few chances in the last few games and it was nice to see one come in.”

“I just had to make sure. I really wanted this, so I’m glad it’s going in.”

Robert Thomas had the chance to put his stamp on the second period and make it 4-1, but his shot went wide of the goal. Regardless, the Blues entered the third round with a two-goal lead.

But Carolina is too good not to make a game out of it and they quickly struck and equalized.

After Parayko threw a puck from his side of the ice into the stands with a supporter behind him, Shayne Gostisbehere made it 3-2 at 1:39 with a wrist throw from the blue line through traffic.

Then Roslovic tied it at 3-3 after a turnover by Nathan Walker in the neutral zone failed to get a puck down low, and the Hurricanes turned the ball back over and Roslovic fired a shot from the top of the right circle by Hofer at 2:57.

“I call a timeout, the guys seemed to calm down,” Bannister said. “They got back to work, we had a few good shifts and scored a goal shortly after. Then you just try to make sure you’re protecting the lead, doing the right things and making tough plays and making high-rate plays easy.” “

Kapanen gave the Blues the lead for good, 4-3, 4:26 after a botched play in which Parayko played the puck, which Neighbors deflected to a quick Kapan, who took the puck from right to left at the blue line and turned around Carolina defenseman Brent turned Burns went backhand, forehand and hit Kochetkov with the high glove.

“I think it was just a broken game,” Kapanen said. “Luckily I had quite a bit of pace there and just tried to get it closer to myself and the backhand, the forehand and the high glove. This is what I’m used to. I’m glad it went in.”

“I think the first third wasn’t our best, but we played pretty well in the second third.

The Blues had two power plays to tie the game late, sandwiched around a Carolina power play that gave the Hurricanes a chance to tie the game, but the Blues, who were 0-for-4 with the man advantage, prevailed thanks to this, Hofer’s exploits endure.

“He’s been under siege a few times,” Bannister said. “They’re a team that puts a lot of pucks in the net from everywhere, so as a goalie you have to be on your guard. You can’t be surprised by anything and I thought he stood his ground and did a great job.”

“We kind of went flat,” said Mathieu Joseph. “Sometimes it happens that a team is fresh from the game, so to speak, in a back-to-back game the night before. They had a good first third and deserved a lot of credit, but ‘Hofe’ kept us going. In the second, we adjust and third, we didn’t turn the puck over and play behind them as much.”

Related: Dylan Holloway scores between the legs for the St. Louis Blues