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BOX SCORE
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The St. Louis Blues are doing their best to
make up for their early playoff exit.
Scott Young scored his NHL-leading 12th goal and added an assist
as the Blues won their fifth straight, beating the Carolina
Hurricanes 4-1 Sunday night.
|  | | Hurricanes goalie Arturs Irbe made 26 saves, but the Blues got to his glove side. |
St. Louis extended its best start in franchise history to 8-2-1
a season after scoring a league-high 114 points, only to be upset
in the first round of the playoffs.
"We've gotten back to the way we were playing most of last
year," Young said. "Our game is to be stingy with quality chances
and we've done that."
The loss pushed Carolina's winless streak to five straight
(0-4-1) as the Hurricanes wasted numerous scoring chances in the
first period.
"It's not a heck of a lot of fun right now," Carolina
defenseman Glen Wesley said. "We have a good hockey club in here
and there are a lot of frustrated guys. There are a lot of players
in here who are trying to do too much and taking the burden on
themselves and go end-to-end. But in order to be successful we've
got to do it as a five-man unit."
Blues rookie goaltender Brent Johnson remained unbeaten at 4-0.
Carolina, 25th in the league on the power play, was 0-for-5 with
the man-advantage and is now 5-for-56.
"We've got to move the puck better out of our back end," said
Carolina coach Paul Maurice, who was agitated with his team's play
after the loss. "We can have all the speed in the world, but if
you're throwing it into their feet and we're not willing to battle,
it's all for not."
The Blues, who beat Dallas in overtime Saturday, took a 2-0 lead
10:49 into the game as Al MacInnis and Young each beat Arturs Irbe
on his glove side.
"We seemed to need to get our legs in the first period, but the
two goals certainly helped," Young said.
MacInnis scored his third of the season, short-handed from the
slot, as the Hurricanes were caught up ice on their power play six
minutes in.
"Our defense is pinching down when we have no business doing
it," Maurice said. "We're afraid of them icing the puck. Against
a team like this they have enough sense where they lift their head
up and find an open guy and down they come."
Less than five minutes later, Young broke in alone on a
defenseless Irbe and extended his goal-scoring streak to five
consecutive games.
The Hurricanes responded with a goal by Marek Malik 56 seconds
later.
But Tyson Nash pounced on a rebound midway through the second
period for a 3-1 lead and the Blues took control from there.
Pavol Demitra closed the scoring with a close-in shot with 11:55
remaining. It was his fourth of the season.
Game notes
Carolina had a season-high 16 shots on Johnson in the first
period. ... St. Louis defenseman Sean Hill took a hooking penalty
less than five minutes into his first game against his old team.
... Hurricanes 20-year-old rookie Josef Vasicek had one assist and
now leads the team with six. ... Carolina defenseman Sandis
Ozolinsh had his four-game assist streak snapped.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
Carolina Clubhouse
RECAPS
St. Louis 4
Carolina 1
NY Rangers 5
Boston 1
Washington 1
Philadelphia 1
Anaheim 6
Calgary 3
Chicago 3
Minnesota 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Scott Young puts the Blues up by two with his league-leading 12th goal.
avi: 535 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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