FINAL: Seattle Kraken 5, St. Louis Blues 3.
Seattle entered this one looking for a sweep of the two-game season series, having beaten the Blues 5-2 at Climate Pledge Arena back on December 20th.
Both teams came out moving their feet. The pace was fast and furious.
It was Martin Jones defending the net for the visitors and Jordan Binnington standing guard at the other end.
Oliver Bjorkstrand went off with a bloody nose in his opening shift having taken a puck in the face. He made it back on the bench quickly and Seattle got on the board first.
Kraken Goal Scorers:
1st Period
1-0 Kraken – Even Strength – Morgan Geekie (6) from Daniel Sprong and Adam Larsson, 9:30
Geekie flew down the left wing with Brandon Tanev to his right on a 2-on-1, held it, and ripped home a top-shelf wrister.
2nd Period
2-1 Kraken – Even Strength – Jared McCann (27) from Vince Dunn and Eeli Tolvanen, 6:57
McCann was open in the left wing circle just after a Seattle power play ended and he slapped one five-hole.
3-2 Kraken – Even Strength – Morgan Geekie (7) from Daniel Sprong and Justin Schultz, 13:32
Geekie won the draw in the right circle, headed to the net, and slid home a loose puck off a carom.
3rd Period
4-2 Kraken – Even Strength – Jamie Oleksiak (8) from Ryan Donato and Eeli Tolvanen, 9:46
The Seattle forecheck created a turnover and Oleksiak wristed one from the top of the right circle past traffic.
5-3 Kraken – Even Strength (empty netter) – Brandon Tanev (11) from Eeli Tolvanen and Yanni Gourde, 19:53
— Seattle outshot the Blues 26-25. Power plays: Seattle 0-for-2, St. Louis 0-for-4.
— Seattle moved into third place in the Pacific Division with 72 points, tied with the Edmonton Oilers but with a game in hand.
Kraken 3 Stars:
1) Morgan Geekie – Two goals on two shots in only 9:23 of ice time. Blocked two shots.
2) Eeli Tolvanen – Three assists. Two shots. Two blocked shots. Played just over 13-minutes.
3) Martin Jones – As usual, wasn’t necessarily spectacular, but made some big saves when he needed to.
