Ryan Donato’s scoring streak continued as he helped the Seattle Kraken secure a much-needed win against a challenging opponent.
Donato scored in his fourth consecutive game, and Carson Soucy, Daniel Sprong, and Jared McCann added goals during Seattle’s dominant second period, leading the Kraken to a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.
This win marks the first time in nearly three weeks that Seattle has won back-to-back games. It also ended the Blues’ four-game win streak and gave the Kraken their first victory over St. Louis in franchise history.
“I think we see when we play the right way, we’re going to get our chances, and if we capitalize on them, it’s hard to beat us,” Donato said.
Donato’s seventh goal of the season came at 16:27 of the first period. The four-game goal streak is the longest of his career. He split the St. Louis defenders during a change, collected a long stretch pass from Adam Larsson, and beat Blues goalie Thomas Greiss.
“For me, it definitely is sweet. I think it’s exciting,” Donato said. “But honestly, at the end of the day, I think everybody here can agree that it’s more about winning. So for me to be a part of that win is a good feeling.”
Soucy scored at the 10-minute mark of the second period, capitalizing on a deflection from Will Borgen’s shot. Sprong and McCann added goals just over two minutes apart late in the period. Sprong’s eighth goal came on a breakaway, and McCann scored from behind the goal line, banking his shot off Greiss. McCann leads Seattle with 15 goals this season.
Brandon Tanev added an empty-net goal with 4:13 left.
Martin Jones made 22 saves for Seattle, securing his fourth win in his last five starts.
“The first two periods, we were pretty good. We did what we had to do regarding overall pace of play and energy,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “We had a lot of good opportunities in the second period.”
St. Louis showed signs of fatigue, playing their third back-to-back in nine days. The Blues had victories in Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver before falling short in Seattle.
“We didn’t have the legs tonight, but we’ve got to be smarter then, and your puck play has to be really good,” St. Louis coach Craig Berube said.
Colton Parayko scored his second goal of the season for St. Louis at 5:59 of the third period, and Pavel Buchnevich scored on a power play at 10:54, bringing the Blues within 4-2. Greiss made 28 saves.
The Blues were without their leading scorer, Jordan Kyrou, due to an upper-body injury. Kyrou, who recorded his first career hat trick in a 5-1 win over Vancouver the previous night, was injured late in that game. He had nine points—six goals and three assists—on the Blues’ road trip and began the night leading St. Louis with 16 goals and 32 points.
“I think they handled it OK. We obviously miss him,” Berube said. “He’s a good player for us. It is what it is.”
Game notes
Tanev was stopped by Greiss on a penalty shot early in the third period after being tripped from behind on a breakaway. Logan Brown moved into the lineup for his sixth game of the season with Kyrou out.
UP NEXT
- Blues: Close out their road trip at Vegas on Thursday.
- Kraken: Travel to Vancouver on Thursday.
