As I suggested in the last update, consistency would be beneficial to the Blues. Thankfully, they finally played some solid hockey for an extended stretch of time. Unfortunately it took the Hurricanes’ Brandon Sutter to wrist a shot past Elliott to wake the Blues up, but boy, did it.
Fighting in front of the net for the rebound from a Jamie Langenbrunner shot got the puck to Jason Arnott, who was able to wrist it in over Cam Ward’s pads. Constant offensive pressure and much improved puck possession were hallmarks of the second period for the Blues, and things that need to carry over to the third period.
David Backes is credited for the tying goal at 16:09 with no assists. Tim Gleason should be given a tip of the hat by Blues fans for that one, as he deflected a Backes shot past Ward on accident to knot the game at two.
Matt D’Agostini went hard into the boards at the end of the period, and returned to the Blues locker room promptly. It appeared that he was favoring his right hand or wrist, so keep your fingers crossed that the third period sees D’Ags back out there.