The St. Louis Blues orchestrated another impressive comeback, rallying from a two-goal deficit for the second time in three games to secure a 4-3 overtime win against the Seattle Kraken on Friday night.
Pavel Buchnevich scored his second goal of the game 3:31 into overtime, giving the Blues their fourth straight win and two crucial points in the Western Conference playoff race.
Trailing 3-1 in the second period, St. Louis completed a three-game road trip with comeback wins against Calgary, Vancouver, and Seattle, all with final scores of 4-3.
“We’re committed more to the standards that we’re asking for our guys, and we’re starting to see that. I think that has to do with resiliency,” interim St. Louis coach Drew Bannister said. “Guys are just more focused on what they can control right now, and the things that we can’t control aren’t a distraction.”
Buchnevich tied the game at 3 with his 15th goal of the season 1:27 into the third period, beating Joey Daccord to the glove side off a pass from Robert Thomas. Over time, Buchnevich capitalized on a feed from Brayden Schenn to seal the victory.
“He could not give me a better pass,” Buchnevich said. “I just have to hit the net. Lately, I’ve been missing the net a lot, so it’s good I hit the net this time.”
St. Louis (52 points) moved within one point of both Nashville and Los Angeles in the wild-card race, while Seattle (50 points) fell three points behind. Both teams have two games remaining before the All-Star break.
Thomas scored his 17th goal on a power play late in the second period, shifting the momentum for St. Louis. Oskar Sundqvist also scored on a power play 7:39 into the first period. Jordan Binnington made 33 saves for the Blues.
Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal and an assist for Seattle, but the Kraken lost for the fifth time in six games. Eeli Tolvanen and Brian Dumoulin also scored for the Kraken.
“It’s probably a game we should have won. I thought we played well enough,” Bjorkstrand said. “Unfortunately, they found a way to tie it and from there we couldn’t get that last goal.”
Bjorkstrand’s power-play goal 3:55 into the second period came after Daccord stopped a shorthanded 2-on-1 rush by the Blues. The save led to a breakout for Seattle and eventually Bjorkstrand’s sixth power-play goal of the season.
Bjorkstrand also set up Tolvanen’s goal less than three minutes later by stealing the puck from Scott Perunovich, leading to Yanni Gourde’s pass and Tolvanen’s finish.
Seattle had missed opportunities that could have extended their lead, including Jaden Schwartz missing an open net late in the second period that would have made it 4-2.
Daccord made 14 saves for the Kraken.
“It’s a tough point to lose. We played hard. We played a pretty good hockey game,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said.
Upcoming Games
- Blues: Return home to face Los Angeles on Sunday.
- Kraken: Close out their homestand against Columbus on Sunday.
