Blues' offensive surge overwhelms Kraken in 7-2 win

For a team struggling for consistency amid a Western Conference wild-card race, the St. Louis Blues certainly needed this game.

Zack Bolduc scored two goals to lead the Blues to a 7-2 blowout win over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at the Enterprise Center. The Blues haven’t scored this many goals since beating Nashville 7-4 on Dec. 27, 2024.

“I just liked the way that every line looked the same way,” Blues head coach Jim Montgomery said. “How you start the game really starts to pay off in the last half of the second period and we saw that.”

St. Louis started its offensive onslaught with a pair of goals in the first period, a snap shot goal from Jordan Kyrou and a wrist shot from Oskar Sundqvist. Kyrou leads the Blues with 24 goals this season, which puts him among the top 25 in the NHL.

The game turned into a full-blown rout after the second period, in which the Blues battered the Kraken defenses to the tune of four goals. Robert Thomas scored his 16th goal to extend his points streak to seven games (four goals and seventh assists).

Bolduc scored his first goal and Cam Fowler found the back of the net less than a minute later. Fowler scored an unassisted goal from a long-range slap shot. Fowler and Sundqvist each record three points for the Blues (one goal and two assists).

“Sunny is the glue guy that connects the other guys,” Montgomery said. “He’s kind of like the brains behind the operation.”

After building a 5-0 lead midway through the second period, the Kraken pulled goalie Joey Daccord and sent out 20–20-year-old rookie Niklas Kokko from Finland to make his NHL debut.

After snapping a 10-game scoreless streak with an assist towards Thomas’ goal, Neighbours scored a goal of his own to round out the St. Louis scoring in the second period.

Bolduc, who celebrated his 24th birthday on Monday, scored his second goal of the night in the third period to raise his season total to eight goals on the season. A first-round pick in 2021, Bolduc now has 20 points in his second season in the NHL.

“Boldy’s habits are getting really good without the puck,” Montgomery said. “The skill set, as we all know, was there. There’s a reason why he was drafted where the Blues drafted him, and it’s because of his ability to make offensive plays.”

Jordan Binnington made 26 saves to improve to 4-0-1 in his last five games. The Blues have points in four straight games (3-0-1), tying the longest mark for the team this season. Three of those games came after the 4 Nations Face-off break.

The Blues (27-26-6) are four points behind the Calgary Flames for the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference standings.

“We’re finding a little consistency in our game,” Fowler said. “I think we understand what we’re capable of when we’re doing things the right way. The depth that we have in goaltending, we feel like we can compete with anybody.”

Vince Dunn and Jaden Schwartz scored for the Kraken in the third period. It was the most goals Seattle allowed since falling 8-5 to San Jose on Nov. 29, 2024.

The Blues travel to Washington on Thursday to take on Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals. The 20-year veteran recently reached the 30-goal mark for the 19th season, an NHL record, during a 3-1 loss against Calgary.

“We can’t be fooled by this game, by scoring seven goals,” Sundqvist said.