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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Kraken fall to Blues, get swept on three-game road trip

St. Louis Blues center Oskar Sundqvist (70) pressures Seattle Kraken left wing Jared McCann (16) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, in St. Louis.  (Associated Press)
By Marisa Ingemi Seattle Times

ST. LOUIS – For the Kraken this season, it feels like if it’s not one thing it’s another.

They got strong goaltending and penalty killing against a prolific Blues power play but only generated a single goal in a 2-1 loss Thursday. They finished their three-game road trip 0-3-0, and have lost their past eight contests, and 10 of their past 11.

The Kraken penalty kill stopped the first four Blues power plays in one of the better special-teams performances of the season. The miscues built up, though, and cost the Kraken with a go-ahead power-play goal 5:30 into the third period from Pavel Buchnevich.

Chris Driedger, in his first start in goal since Dec. 30 and eighth overall, made 25 saves and kept the Kraken ahead for the majority of the contest. He made 12 saves in the second period to preserve the lead before it dissipated early in the third.

After playing the night before in Dallas, the Kraken came out with plenty of jump and a significantly stronger opening period than against the Stars. It was an inverse of the Dallas game in which they were sluggish to start and built better second and third periods.

Alexander Wennberg snagged his fourth goal of the season off a Ryan Donato rebound, his first goal in 12 contests. It was the first time the Kraken struck first in a road game since Dec. 14, their last road victory.

St. Louis pressured in the second period, and the Kraken were forced to kill back-to-back Vince Dunn minor penalties just under midway through. They killed another one later, Mark Giordano’s second infraction of the night. The Blues entered the night with the second-best power play in the league at 30.1%.

The Kraken entered the night at a 77.5% clip killing penalties, the 24th-ranked unit in the NHL. Over the course of the road trip, against thee of the better power-play teams in the league, they only allowed two power-play goals, and it was a 5-on-3 strike in Dallas before the late Blues goal on Thursday.

The Kraken couldn’t generate on a power play that spanned the end of the second and into the third, but it was the Blues’ even-strength unit that knotted up the game.

A turnover trying to clear the defensive end was picked up in the neutral zone by Blues defender Torey Krug. The Blues had a clean zone entry before Robert Thomas made it 1-1 just 1:29 into the third frame.

On the fifth power-play moments later, the Kraken were burned.

Buchnevich scored from between the circles just 12 seconds into Max McCormick’s holding penalty early in the third. The Kraken got a power play with 2:15 left in the game

The Kraken barely possessed the puck the rest of the period and notably struggled to generate any offensive momentum, especially from zone entries. They’ll have the next seven games at home before a lengthy east-coast trip into the All-Star break, but they also haven’t won at home since Dec. 4.