Seattle Kraken squander 2-0 lead, lose season opener 3-2 to Blues
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 08: Jaden Schwartz #17 of the Seattle Kraken clashes with Colton Parayko #55 of the St. Louis Blues during the third period of a game at Climate Pledge Arena on October 8, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Christoph (Christopher Mast / NHLI / Getty Images)
SEATTLE - The Seattle Kraken squandered a 2-0 lead and the St. Louis Blues scored three goals in less than two minutes to flip the game in a 3-2 season-opening loss on Tuesday afternoon.
Vince Dunn and Eeli Tolvanen each scored less than two minutes apart early in the second period to seize the advantage, only for the Blues to answer back in kind to grab the lead later in the period.
Jordan Kyrou had a pair of goals, Philip Broberg scored, and Jordan Binnington made 30 saves in the victory for the Blues.
"I saw a lot of good. I saw a sleepy four minutes," said Jordan Eberle, who was named the second captain in team history before the game. "I think, all in all, we played a pretty good 56 minutes and then four minutes killed us."
The Kraken offense got off to a roaring start. They out-shot the Blues by an 11-5 margin in the first period and looked dangerous and dynamic in their play. Strong play from Jordan Binnington in net for St. Louis was the only reason the game stayed scoreless through 20 minutes.
But it took just 27 seconds into the second period before the Kraken did cash in. Vince Dunn collected his own rebound and buried it off a rush for a 1-0 Seattle lead.
Less than two minutes later, the Kraken doubled the advantage. Eeli Tolvanen tipped a Ryker Evans shot from distance down through Binnington for a 2-0 edge.
Seattle had 20 shots on net through the first five minutes of the second period as they had constant pressure on the Blues.
"Our pace of our game was really good coming out with the first period, I thought we played super fast. We played good. There's no risk in our game and our pace was excellent," center Yanni Gourde said.
However, the Blues started to get a bit chippy to try and find a way to push back and the first power play of the game for either team helped flip the momentum decidedly into St. Louis' favor.
Robert Thomas found Jordan Kyrou with a stretch pass through the neutral zone and Kyrou flew by defenseman Jamie Oleksiak at the blue line to get cleanly in on net. Kyrou beat Grubauer through the legs to get the Blues on the board just 22 seconds into the man advantage.
Philip Broberg tied the game at 2-2 just 1:35 later as his shot from the left circle slipped just over the left pad of Grubauer with the aid of a screen from Jake Neighbors.
And then 20 seconds after the tying goal, the Blues grabbed the lead. Oleksiak turned the puck over at the St. Louis blue line as Kyrou sprung free on a breakaway he buried by Grubauer for a 3-2 St. Louis advantage.
"We get involved in the s--- and get involved there and take a penalty and take another penalty, and that gives them the power play chance, they get the goal, and they get the momentum from there," head coach Dan Bylsma said.
Three goals allowed in just 1:55 of game time.
"Losing the momentum that dramatically, it’s sometimes hard to get back," Dunn said. "Letting a team back into the game like that is not what you want."
A possible third goal for the Kraken was waved off by officials and didn't count prior to the St. Louis rally. Olekisak had a slap shot on a puck that came to the top of the offensive zone that slipped through Binnington into the net, but it had clearly crossed the blue line into the neutral zone before the shot, which made the play offside.
The Kraken got their first power play in the third quarter with Brandon Montour having a chance ring off the outside of the post. However, they managed just four shots on net in the third period as they couldn't find enough good chances to get the tying goal.
"We got a lot of good offensive zone time," Bylsma said. "We got a lot of good plays there, you know, that we had opportunities to shoot the puck and solid in the third as well. As we were pushing we we had opportunities. It wasn't great opportunities, but we had opportunities in the third there and we passed up the shots that were presented to us. And I think we can, we can develop a mindset that we're going to be shooters all night long a little more."
Grubauer had 22 saves on 25 shots for Seattle in net.
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Jordan Eberle named second captain of Seattle Kraken
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