Jeff Skinner's power-play goal guides Carolina Hurricanes by St. Louis Blues

ST. LOUIS -- Jeff Skinner scored a power-play goal with 6:08 left in the third period to break a 2-2 tie and lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-2 win Thursday night over the St. Louis Blues.

The loss kept the Blues from winning back-to-back games, something they have not done for more than a month. They won three games in a row from Nov. 26 to Dec. 1.

Skinner's goal, his 14th of the year, came just 17 seconds after Blues' defenseman Brad Hunt was called for slashing. It was only the second power play goal by the Hurricanes in their last nine games.

The Blues received a power play chance of their own with 5:10 to play when Derek Ryan was called for delay of game, but they could not score the tying goal. Ryan then added his second goal of the game into an empty net for the final two-goal margin.

For the second game in a row, Jake Allen allowed a goal on the opponent's first shot on goal. Ryan scored on a 2-on-1 break, faking a pass before beating Allen just 69 seconds into the game.

The Blues rallied to take the lead with two goals early in the second period. Defenseman Joel Edmundson scored his first of the year at 3:04 before Vladimir Tarasenko's power-play goal at 7:29 put the Blues in front. It was Tarasenko's 19th goal of the season and gave him 14 points on six goals and eight assists in his last 12 games.

Jay McClement score the tying goal for the Hurricanes at 11:02 of the second period.

Carolina was set to go on a 5-on-3 power play for 1:43 late in the second period, but a slashing penalty to Jordan Staal just 26 seconds later wiped out the two-man advantage and the Blues were able to kill the remaining penalty and keep the game tied.

NOTES: The Hurricanes activated D Justin Faulk from injured reserve prior to the game and placed C Elias Lindholm on IR, retroactive to Dec. 30, because of an upper-body injury. Faulk had been out since Dec. 23 with a lower-body injury which forced him to miss four games. ... RW Ty Rattie was inserted into the Carolina lineup, one day after he was claimed on waivers from the Blues. Rattie played in only four games for St. Louis this season, the most recent on Nov. 28. ... D Brad Hunt replaced D Carl Gunnarsson in the Blues lineup after Gunnarsson suffered a lower-body injury in the Winter Classic game on Monday. His status is said to be day-to-day. ... The Hurricanes play the Blackhawks in Chicago on Friday night while the Blues will host the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.