Martin Necas stays hot: Hurricanes down Blues behind four points from Czech winger

RALEIGH, N.C. — Martin Necas says he’s not superstitious, and that his hair may not always remain blond.

But the Carolina Hurricanes forward won’t be changing his look anytime soon — not the way he’s looking on the ice.

Necas continued to pile up points, now a game-to-game thing, on Sunday as the Hurricanes took a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues at the Lenovo Center.

With two goals and two assists, the speedy winger pushed his personal point streak to 13 games as the Canes completed a home back-to-back set with two wins. No. 88 for Carolina was a threat every time the puck was on his stick.

“Don’t get too close to him. He’s really hot,” teammate Jordan Martinook cautioned the media after the game.

Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov had a power-play goal with 25 seconds left in the opening period. Eric Robinson, who had a goal and two assists, scored off a rebound 17 seconds into the second period for the Hurricanes, who took a 3-1 lead into the third after Necas’ first goal.

Goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, returning quickly after a brief injury scare, returned to the Carolina net Sunday after Spencer Martin’s first career shutout in a 4-0 win Saturday over the Ottawa Senators. Kochetkov earned his ninth win of the season, posting 29 saves on 30 shots as the Canes (13-4-0) continue to deal with the uncertainty of goalie Frederik Andersen’s lower-body injury.

“I feel good today,” Kochetkov said. “ I had good energy.”

And Necas’ play?

“Oh, my God, he’s unbelievable,” Kochetkov said.

Bet on Martin Necas

For those who have not heard the hairy story, Necas lost a golf bet to Brendan Lemieux in October. His hair suddenly had blond frosted tips. He said from the start he wasn’t sure how long he’d keep the blond look, but ...

“I dyed it once and it’s been like that ever since,” Necas said, smiling, “It’s not about my hair. It’s about my linemates, about me.”

And about that point streak: Necas has nine goals and 17 assists in the run. His line, with Jesperi Kotkaniemi at center and Robinson on the left wing, controlled the puck and applied the pressure Sunday.

“Confidence is everything and we’ve had a good stretch here,” Robinson said. “It’s a snowball effect. We keep feeling better.”

Necas picked up his first goal, a team-leading 10th, at 12:26 of the second period for a 3-1 lead. It came after Robinson first dangled with the puck, drawing the attention of goalie Joel Hofer, and set up Necas for the shot to Hofer’s right — Robinson’s first three-point game of the season.

“He’s so fast and he creates space for me,” Necas said of Robinson. “He can score, he can do it all. He’s been a really good piece for us and we love to have him.”

Necas scored again late in the third, with Robinson and Kotkaniemi assisting, off a blistering shot.

“Obviously when things are going your way you’re kind of in the zone,” Necas said. “I’m trying to stay there as long as I can. I try to bring it each night.”

Blues have early momentum

Both teams played Saturday, but the Blues were the quicker, sharper team in the first 10 minutes Sunday, making crisp passes and testing Kochetkov.

The Canes, slower out of the gates, had three shots in the first 15 minutes, hardly testing Hofer.

“We didn’t have our best,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Give St. Louis credit. They were on their game. But that’s hockey.”

Things changed for the Canes when rookie forward Jackson Blake was grabbed by Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist with a minute left in the first period.

On the game’s first power play, Necas took a pass in the left circle and spotted Svechnikov open on the back door for the easy deposit. Svechnikov had his sixth goal of the season — his first in seven games — as Necas picked up his 18th assist of the season.

“That was huge and you need that sometimes,” Robinson said. “You’re not always going to have your ‘A’ game, but you’ve got to find a way.”

The Blues (8-10-1) scored the game’s first goal after forcing a turnover in the Carolina zone. Jordan Kyrou, active in the first, set up Jake Neighbours for the goal.

With Kochetkov ready to return, the Canes reassigned goalie Yaniv Perets to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL on Sunday. Perets served as Martin’s backup in Saturday’s game at Lenovo Center.

____