ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues extended their point streak to six games and gained ground in the Central Division when Ville Husso made 28 saves in a 4-1 win against the Seattle Kraken at Enterprise Center on Wednesday.
Robert Thomas scored to extend his point streak to an NHL career-high seven games, and Brayden Schenn had two assists for the Blues (40-20-10), who are 5-0-1 in their past six to move within one point of the Minnesota Wild for second place in the Central.
“I liked the third period a lot,” St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. “I thought we played a better team game and did a better job of playing the way we’re supposed to play, did a good job there on the [penalty kill] at the end, good blocks, that sort of stuff.
“I wasn’t disappointed in the game. I thought that guys competed and worked hard. That team over there I thought competed at a high level tonight. They worked hard, they made it difficult for us at times. It wasn’t an easy game by any means.”
Jordan Eberle scored, and Chris Driedger made 32 saves for the Kraken (22-42-6), who play at the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.
“We’re not going to win too many games when you’re going six penalties to one in the hockey game,” Driedger said. “This was one of those efforts you crumble up and throw away and go and get it the next night.”
Thomas gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 8:38 of the first period, scoring on the power play to give him 12 points (four goals, eight assists) during his point streak. He scored off a double-minor for high-sticking by Kraken forward Jared McCann.
“I think he’s starting to get more well-rounded with the scoring, right,” Berube said of Thomas. “He’s looking to shoot more than he ever has. That’s why he’s got 16 goals. He’s got to continue to do that. Can’t just always look to pass. He’s got to shoot pucks. He’s scoring right now, so he should just continue to shoot.”
Husso made three saves during the four-minute power-play prior to Thomas’ goal.
“He played well,” St. Louis defenseman Colton Parayko said. “Right off the hop, obviously. He’s been playing well, giving us a chance to win. But when you get those big saves, it gives you a little more motivation. It kind of puts you in gear a little bit more, makes you want to push, and obviously he made a couple big saves, and right off of those saves we went down and scored.”
Justin Faulk made it 2-0 at 7:56 of the second period when he beat Driedger high glove after taking a cross-ice pass from Schenn in the left circle. It was Schenn’s 300th NHL assist.
“He made a great play on the goal, ‘Schenner,'” Berube said. “He keeps playing 200 feet for us and doing some good things.”
Eberle cut it to 2-1 at 9:55 when he was able to slide in a loose puck off a blocked Will Borgen shot.
“I thought the second period we came out a little better,” Eberle said. “Obviously we were down [two] and we made it a 2-1 game. … We couldn’t get another one to fight back.
“We had opportunities. That wasn’t the problem. We had opportunities to score; you’ve got to finish those, but at the other end, we gave up too much. ‘Driedgs’ played well. I think we’ve got to tighten it up defensively and just dial it in a bit offensively.”
Jordan Kyrou‘s first goal in 12 games gave the Blues a 3-1 lead at 2:34 of the third period when he was able to knock the puck in out of midair.
“Obviously haven’t scored in a couple games,” Kyrou said. “And obviously it’s kind of tough sometimes when you go through those stretches, so it’s kind of just a nice little relief when you finally get that one.”
Ryan O’Reilly scored an empty-net goal at 18:45 for the 4-1 final.
NOTES: Driedger has started four of the past five games and it’s the first time he’s allowed more than two goals. … The Blues swept the three-game season series against the Kraken, outscoring them 11-2. … St. Louis is 15-3-3 against the Pacific Division this season. … Kyrou had a season-high eight shots on goal. … O’Reilly has a five-game point streak (three goals, three assists). … Kraken defenseman Cale Fleury was minus-2 with five hits in 13:44 in his first game since Feb. 2 after being recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League on Tuesday.
