Necas scores twice in 4-point night as Hurricanes beat Blues 4-1

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Martin Necas had two goals and two assists as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Sunday.

Andrei Svechnikov and Eric Robinson also scored for the Hurricanes, who’ve won two straight following a 1-2 road trip. Robinson added two assists. Pyotr Kochetkov made 29 saves.

Necas has a 13-game points streak since he was kept off the scoresheet Oct. 19 at St. Louis.

Jake Neighbours opened the scoring for St. Louis, but the Blues lost for the fifth time in six games (1-4-1).

The Blues scored 6:05 into the game on Neighbours’ first goal in 10 games before Carolina recorded its first shot on goal.

Svechnikov tied the score with a power-play goal with 25 seconds left in the opening period. Four of his six goals have come on power plays.

Blues: They were headed toward one of their highest shot totals of the season until they managed only eight shots in the third period. St. Louis scored only one goal for the sixth time in its 20 games this season.

Hurricanes: Their 13 wins are the most for any Eastern Conference team as their home record improved to 7-1-0.

The Hurricanes went ahead on Robinson’s goal 17 seconds into the second period. Carolina scored in the final minute of one period and in the opening minute of the following period for the second day in a row.

Necas, now with 11 goals, became the first Carolina player to reach the 10-goal mark this season. Combined with 19 assists, he’s already more than halfway to reaching last season’s 53 points that he achieved in 77 games.

The Blues are home Tuesday night vs. Minnesota, while the Hurricanes begin a three-game road trip Wednesday night at Philadelphia.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl