Blues throttle Kraken

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While the odds of the Seattle Kraken making the playoffs were unlikely


heading into last night’s game against the St. Louis Blues, the Blues’ 7-2 victory at the Enterprise Center may have been the exclamation point on the Kraken’s post-season miss for the second consecutive year.

The Blues scored four goals in the second period, taking a 6-0 lead as coach Dan Bylsma mercifully pulled Joey Daccord from the Kraken net after the fifth Blues’ goal. The 20-year-old Nikke Kokko made his NHL debut, the youngest goalie in the league by almost two years and made five saves on seven shots.

“Take your pick,” said veteran forward Jared McCann when asked what went wrong for the Kraken. ``Pretty much everything. D-zone coverage, couldn't get a forecheck established, we made it easy on them. Just looked like we didn't have our legs tonight, and, it's just overall pretty embarrassing.’’

The Kraken fall to 25-31-4 on the season and while the Blues aren’t a guaranteed playoff team either, they played like a team battling for a berth as they improved their record to 27-26-2 on the season. A total of 14 different players were in the scoring column for the home team in a contest that proved that statistics don’t always tell the story. With a late surge, Seattle and St. Louis both finished with 27 shots on goals (and also even in hits with 18).

Zack Bolduc was the game’s number-one star with two goals and Jordan Kyrou (eight career goals against the Kraken) Oskar Sundquist, Rob Thomas, Cam Fowler and Jake Neighbors also lit the lamp for the Blues.

Two former Blues- Vince Dunn and Jaden Schwartz notched third-period goals against goaltender Jordan Binnington, who had a less stressful game than last week when he led Team Canada to victory over the USA in the 4Nations tournament.

“Joey had three or four great saves in the first half of the game that he was in and even the ones that went in… he makes a great save and the guy knocks it out of the air; there’s a seam pass and then one he doesn’t see from the point,’’ bemoaned Bylsma. ``I don’t think Joey had a ton of a chance in there.’’

Kokko was left out to dry as well. The first goal he allowed was when a player (Neighbors) was unguarded in front of the net. The final St. Louis game came on a shot through a screen.

Kokko was recalled from Coachella Valley on Monday, and Alex Stezka, who started Saturday’s game against Tampa Bay was sent down. Stezka was eligible to go on waivers again if he stayed with Seattle until the end of the month. But now the Kraken have had a chance to see all their goalies in action as they head towards the March 6 trade deadline.

“Sometimes I think your first taste in the NHL is a little bit better when it’s by surprise,’’ said Bylsma. ``It was a time Kokko didn’t have to think about a start…he got tossed in there. His first save was a great one and he was a young goalie doing a good job out there.”

The players themselves know better than anyone when they’ve had a `clunker.’ As McCann noted, ``You have to play for the logo on the front, right? It’s an honor to be in the NHL, and there are a lot of other kids who are champing at the bit to get into the play here. So, we have to take a long look in the mirror and figure out everything.’’

The Kraken return home on Saturday night to face their geographic rivals, the Vancouver Canucks at Climate Pledge Arena.

Game Summary

First Period

ST- Jordan Kyrou (Cam Fowler, Colton Parayko) 8:04.

ST- Oskar Sundquist (Pavel Buchnevich, Robert Thomas) PPG, 12:48.

Second Period

ST- Robert Thomas (Jake Neighbors, Philip Broberg) 5:10.

ST- Zack Bolduc (Sundquist, Justin Faulk) 8:23.

ST- Fowler (Dylan Holloway, Brayden Schenn) 9:45.

ST- Neighbors (Fowler, Parayko) 11:55.

Third Period

ST- Bolduc (Mathieu Joseph, Sundquist) :20.

S- Vince Dunn (unassisted) 5:15.

S- Jaden Schwartz 19 (Kaapo Kakko 23, Adam Larsson 12) 12:19.

Shots on Goal- Seattle 27 (Jared McCann 4), St. Louis 27 (Cam Fowler 4).

Hits- Seattle 18 (Ryker Evans 4), St. Louis 18 (Alexev Toropchenko 5).

Penalty Minutes- Seattle 4, St. Louis 4.

Faceoffs- Seattle 34% St. Louis 66%.

Blocked Shots- Seattle 11 (Brandon Tanev 3), St. Louis 11 (Justin Faulk 4).

Referees- Cody Beach, Chris Schlenker. Linesman- Jason Marquis, Ben O’Quinn.

Three Stars- 1. Zack Bolduc. 2. Oskar Sundquist. 3. Cam Fowler. 

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