Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich scored in the third period, leading the St. Louis Blues to a 2-1 comeback victory over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.
Ville Husso made 31 saves, extending the Blues’ home point streak to 13 games, dating back to Nov. 18, the third-longest in franchise history.
“We knew that they play hard, and there’s never easy games when you look at the standings and stuff,” Husso said. “We knew it would be a hard game, and everybody played 60 minutes. That was good for us.”
Alex Wennberg scored, and Chris Driedger made 25 saves for the Kraken, who have now lost six of their last seven games.
“It’s obviously not how we want it to be,” Wennberg said. “We’re finding ways to lose the game. We had the lead and again gave away some goals in the third period. We must find something here, step up, and take responsibility for what’s happening.”
Buchnevich’s power-play goal from a slick no-look pass by Ivan Barbashev at 5:30 of the third period gave St. Louis the lead.
This marked the second consecutive third-period comeback for the Blues, who scored twice in the final minute to beat Dallas on Sunday. St. Louis has an NHL-best 13 comeback win this season.
“Even when we’re down going into the third, we’re pretty confident,” Thomas said. “We started to push our game in the second. … Pretty special group in there that fights back, and then our special teams coming up with big goals.”
Thomas’ goal at 1:29 of the third tied the game 1-1, with Torey Krug extending his point streak to six games with an assist.
“It’s nice to get the lead, but when things happen and you get bad bounces or whatever, you’ve got to just stay with it and keep pushing,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “I think our guys are good at that. If you want to be a real good team, you’ve got to be able to come back in games.”
Wennberg’s fourth goal of the season gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead with five minutes left in the first period, breaking a 12-game scoring drought for him since Dec. 3.
“Just frustrated,” Driedger said. “You never really feel happy after losing a game. It’s a team effort and I don’t think anyone is satisfied without getting two points. We’re in one of those stretches where we’ve got to figure out a way to win.”
Pandemic Impact
The Blues were without five players due to COVID-19 protocols, including F David Perron, who was added to the list Tuesday. He joined F Vladimir Tarasenko, F Brayden Schenn, D Colton Parayko, and D Scott Perunovich.
“We were missing a lot of guys and all the guys who came in … it’s not easy to come in and play,” Husso said. “They played well.”
Welcome Back
Kraken D Vince Dunn played his first game back in St. Louis after being selected by Seattle in the expansion draft. Dunn was a second-round pick by the Blues in the 2015 draft and was part of the franchise’s 2019 Stanley Cup championship team. He received a standing ovation during a video tribute in the first period.
Game Notes
- Kraken RW Jordan Eberle became the first player for the franchise to be selected to the NHL All-Star Game.
- Blues F Jordan Kyrou was selected to his first All-Star Game.
- Kraken D Mark Giordano and Blues C Tyler Bozak have the top two career point totals among active undrafted players. Giordano has 520 points and Bozak has 456.
- Bozak played in his 200th game with the Blues.
UP NEXT
- Kraken: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
- Blues: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
