Colton Parayko sported his injury with pride after taking a high stick to the upper lip in the first period, leading to a four-minute power play that set the stage for the Blues’ 4-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night.
“A few stitches and away we go,” Parayko commented.
Ville Husso stopped 28 shots, while Robert Thomas, Justin Faulk, Jordan Kyrou, and Ryan O’Reilly scored, helping the Blues improve to 15-3-3 against Pacific Division teams.
St. Louis has earned a point in its last six games and 11 of its previous 14.
Husso, who has overtaken Jordan Binnington as the Blues’ top goaltender, stopped the first 17 shots to secure his third win against the Kraken this season. Husso, now 13-2-1 at home, has saved 86 of 88 shots in those victories.
Jordan Eberle scored for Seattle, which has lost three of its last four games. Chris Driedger made 32 saves.
Parayko’s high stick incident with Jared McCann resulted in a lengthy power play and a couple of stitches between the first and second periods.
Thomas capitalized on the power play at 8:38 of the first period, starting the Blues’ offensive run. Continuing a hot scoring streak, Thomas netted his 16th goal of the season off a slick cross-ice pass from Ivan Barbashev. He has now scored in a career-best seven consecutive games, with four goals and eight assists in that span.
“He’s looking to shoot more than he ever has,” said St. Louis coach Craig Berube. “He’s scoring; he should continue to shoot.”
Faulk scored his 10th goal at 7:56 in the second period, becoming the first Blues defenseman to reach double digits this season. He scored off a pass from Brayden Schenn, who had two assists.
Eberle brought the Kraken within one goal by converting a rebound 119 seconds later.
Kyrou ended a 12-game goal drought early in the third period, increasing the lead to 3-1 with his 23rd goal of the season.
“It gets kind of tough sometimes when you’re going through those stretches,” Kyrou said. “It’s a nice load of relief when you finally get one.”
O’Reilly sealed the win for St. Louis with an empty-net goal 1:15 before the final buzzer.
The Blues are now 5-0-1 in their last six games, building momentum for the playoffs.
“Every game from this point on, you’ve got to be in playoff mode,” Kyrou added.
Seattle was coming off a 4-1 win over Dallas on Sunday.
“This was one of those efforts that you crumple up and throw away,” Driedger said.
Game Notes
Former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Vince Coleman attended the game and received a standing ovation when shown on the video board during the second period. Coleman played six of his 13 MLB seasons in St. Louis, stealing 326 bases between 1985 and 87.
Seattle center Jaden Schwartz missed his sixth consecutive game due to an upper-body injury. Schwartz played 560 games with the Blues and was part of the 2018-19 Stanley Cup-winning team.
Seattle defenseman Adam Larsson is the only Kraken player to appear in all 70 games this season.
The Blues lead the league with seven players having 20 or more goals this season. O’Reilly (17 goals) and Thomas (16) are nearing the mark.
UP NEXT
- Kraken: Face the Blackhawks in Chicago on Thursday night.
- Blues: Host Minnesota on Friday night.
