ST. LOUIS, MO – The Seattle Kraken dropped their fourth consecutive game on Thursday night, 5-1 at the hands of the St. Louis Blues.
Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour said they just have to be ready to play. He said they’re in the mix. The Kraken sit in the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.
“We had a solid week of practice, tough teams, tough on the road to start, but obviously we didn’t show for it,” Montour said.
St. Louis left winger Dylan Holloway was the biggest factor on the ice for the Blues as he tallied four points with a hat trick and an assist.
“His speed, his tenacity, you know, his ability to add depth scoring and main scoring, when he’s playing like he did tonight, we saw it a lot right before he got injured,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said of Holloway’s play. “He’s a difference maker.”
The Blues had some early chances, but Seattle was bailed out by goaltender Philipp Grubauer. St. Louis played strong defense to prevent Seattle from getting any early opportunities.
It was all St. Louis early on as the Kraken couldn’t get it out of their defensive zone and soon enough, the dam broke as Holloway put it home at the 7:58 mark of the period.
Seattle had a chance to tie it on the power play a bit later on, but couldn’t convert. However, the Kraken tied it with their fourth shot on goal from Kaapo Kakko in the middle of a mess in front of the net.
Kakko’s goal seemed to put juice into the team as the Kraken started to play with a more aggressive pace.
The second period started out the same as the third with a Blues goal. St. Louis set it up on a tic-tac-toe play to put the Blues ahead. Jordan Kyrou put it home 1:12 into the period, and then just 23 seconds later, Holloway grabbed his second of the night as he pushed it home in a mess in front of the net.
Seattle had thought they’d responded with a goal on a shot by Ryker Evans that kind of floated in as it got closer to St. Louis goaltender Joel Hofer. St. Louis, however, challenged the goal for an offside call and it was overturned.
Just like the first two periods, the Blues opened the scoring in the third just under two minutes in as Pius Suter put it home from in close. That was Siuter’s third point of the night as he assisted on two goals earlier in the night.
With the Kraken net empty, Holloway put home his third, and the hats came flying as the Blues sealed it up 5-1.
It was a game in which the Kraken just couldn’t find a solid offensive rhythm, which led to just one goal.
One glaring aspect was the power play where the Kraken went 0-3. The St. Louis defense plus a strong performance by Hofer in net was just too much for Seattle.
Montour said the Blues’ defensemen were the difference makers. He said they make plays and that their forwards are always finding them.
Hofer made 23 saves on 24 Kraken shots on goal.
“He played well, he plays the puck well,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said of Hofer. “We dumped the puck poorly, we couldn’t establish a forecheck. We can’t get a lot of offensive zone time if we can’t establish a forecheck. At the end of the day, he plays it well, that was the challenge we knew was presented.”
Montour said they made it easy for Hofer as they didn’t give him many tough saves. He emphasized what Lambert said of Hofer playing the puck.
“We hand it to him probably 5, 10, times a period, so that’s probably a start,” Montour said.
The Kraken are back in action Saturday as they host the Vancouver Canucks at 7 p.m.
Montour said they have to rest, get their energy back and realize that these games are important.
“This is a make or break homestand for us,” Montour said. “We have to collect as many wins as we can.”
He said they wasted two opportunities at Dallas and St. Louis, but that they’re going home, have to reset and be ready.
Northwest Sports Desk 