SEATTLE KRAKEN NOTES:
LAST GAME
Toronto 5 at Seattle 1
Goals: Dunn
Goalie: Grubauer (17/21), Jones (11/12)
PP: 0/2 PK: 1/1 Shots: Toronto 33 – Seattle 27
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 158)
Joonas Donskoi (upper body; IR) – 59 games – no timeline for return
Andre Burakovsky (lower body) – 9 games – week-to-week
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
Feb. 22, 2023: Recalled F Jesper Froden from Coachella Valley (AHL)
Feb. 24, 2023: Reassigned G Chris Driedger to Coachella Valley (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
Thursday, March 2: Seattle at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. PT
Friday, March 3: Seattle at Columbus, 4 p.m. PT
Sunday, March 5: Seattle at Colorado, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, March 7: Anaheim at Seattle, 7 p.m. PT
Thursday, March 9: Ottawa at Seattle, 7 p.m.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• Tonight’s matchup is the final of three games the Kraken will play against the Blues this season and the first time the teams are playing in St. Louis this year.
• A win or an overtime loss would give the Kraken points in three consecutive games against St. Louis. The team fell to the Blues 4-3 in overtime on Oct. 19 and then defeated them 5-2 on Dec. 20.
• Jared McCann (1.78) was tied with New Jersey’s Jack Hughes in goals-per-60 at five-on-five this season among players that have played in at least seven games this year entering play Monday. McCann has a point in seven of the last eight games he has played, totaling three goals and four assists during that span.
• Entering play Monday, Adam Larsson, the Islanders’ Alexander Romanov and the Rangers’ Jacob Trouba were the only three players to have at least 150 hits and 100 blocks this season.
• The Kraken have played 14 games this season in which they have had at least five different goal scorers.
• Since the start of the New Year, the Kraken are tied for fifth the league in wins (14) and tied for sixth in points (30). The team’s 86 goals rank fourth in the league since Jan. 1.
• Despite only playing in 59 games this season, the Kraken are the first team to have scored at least eight goals in a game four different times since the Pittsburgh Penguins also had four eight-goal games in 2011-12.
SINGING THE BLUES
• Oliver Bjorkstrand has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 10 career games against the Blues. He recorded his 100th NHL point against St. Louis on Nov. 1, 2019.
• Will Borgen enters tonight’s game riding a three-game point streak against the Blues, scoring one goal and adding two assists in those three games dating back to April 6, 2022.
• Ryan Donato has totaled eight points (three goals, five assists) in his last eight games against the Blues and has scored in each of the Kraken’s last two games against St. Louis.
• Jordan Eberle scored his 200th NHL goal on Jan. 15, 2019 against St. Louis.
• Philipp Grubauer has won four of his last five starts against St. Louis dating back to Jan. 2, 2020, posting a 2.21 goals-against average, .917 save percentage and one shutout during that span.
• Jared McCann and Jamie Oleksiak both scored their first NHL goals against the Blues – McCann on Oct. 16, 2015 and Oleksiak on Oct. 28, 2014.
• Brandon Tanev has totaled four points (one goal, three assists) in his last three games against the Blues and enters tonight’s game riding a three-game point streak.
• Alex Wennberg has three assists in his last two games against St. Louis.
FAMILIAR FOES
• Tonight will mark the third matchup of the season against St. Louis for former Blues Vince Dunn and Jaden Schwartz.
• Dunn was drafted by St. Louis in the second round (56th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft and totaled 102 points (32 goals, 70 assists) in 267 regular-season games with the Blues. Dunn was Seattle’s selection from St. Louis in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.
• During Dunn’s four-season tenure with St. Louis, only one St. Louis defenseman score more goals than his 32 (Alex Pietrangelo; 44), and his 70 assists and 102 points were both the third-most among St. Louis blueliners during that span.
• Schwartz was taken by St. Louis in the first round (14th overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft and went on to play for the Blues for 10 seasons (2011-12 to 2020-21) before signing with Seattle as a free agent.
• Schwartz recorded 385 points (154 goals, 231 assists) in 560 regular-season games with the Blues and remains ranked in the top 20 in St. Louis franchise history in goals (16th), assists (14th), points (14th) and games played (18th).
• Both Dunn and Schwartz were a part of St. Louis’ Stanley Cup-winning team in 2019.
• Assistant Coach Dave Lowry played for St. Louis from 1988-19 to 1992-93.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
• The Kraken have posted an 17-9-3 record while playing on the road this season. The team’s 17 road wins have already surpassed their total from last season (11) despite only playing in 29 road games so far this year.
• Entering play Monday, the Kraken ranked fourth in the NHL this season in road regulation wins (16). The team’s 109 goals and 3.76 goals-per-game-played on the road tied for fourth and ranked fifth, respectively, entering play Monday.
• Matty Beniers is the Kraken’s leading scorer when playing on the road this season, totaling 25 points (13 goals, 12 assists) in 29 games played. Beniers’ 13 goals, 25 points and 0.89 points per game on the road this year were the most among rookies who have played in at least two road games this season entering play Monday.
• Vince Dunn has totaled 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in his last 13 games played on the road.
ST. LOUIS BLUES NOTES:
CURRENT INJURIES
Jake Neighbours – Upper-Body (Will be re-evaluated in 5 weeks; announced on Feb. 20)
2022-23 Total Man Games Lost: 240
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
February
27 – Recalled forward Nikita Alexandrov from the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
26 – Traded forward Ivan Barbashev to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for prospect Zachary Dean
25 – Acquired forward Kasperi Kapanen from Pittsburgh with a Waiver Claim; Assigned forward Nikita Alexandrov to the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
23 – Activated forward Brandon Saad from IR
23 – Assigned forward Matthew Highmore to the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
20 – Placed forward Jake Neighbours on IR; Activated defenseman Marco Scandella and Scott Perunovich from IR; Assigned Perunovich to the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
BLUES VS. KRAKEN
- This will be the 3rd and final matchups between the Blues and Kraken this season
- The Blues are 1-1-0 this season against Seattle, losing 5-2 on Dec. 20 and winning 4-3 in OT on Oct. 19, both in Seattle
- The Blues went 3-0-0 against Seattle last season (2-0-0 at home; 1-0-0 away)
- Since Seattle entered the NHL at the beginning of last season, the Blues are 4-1-0 against the Kraken (2-0-0 at home; 2-1-0 away)
- The Blues won both home games against Seattle last season, outscoring them 6-2 in those 2 games, allowing Seattle just 1 goal in each game
- Since the start of last season, the Blues have gone 12 for 12 on the penalty kill against Seattle
- The Blues have also scored a power play goal in 4 of their 5 games against the Kraken, going 4 for 21 (19.1%) on the power play over those 5 games
- Jordan Binnington’s next appearance will be the 209th game played of his career, moving him into a tie with Greg Millen for 5th on the Blues all-time franchise list
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
3/2 – at San Jose
3/4 – at Los Angeles
3/7 – at Arizona
3/9 – vs. San Jose
3/11 – at Columbus
A LOOK AHEAD
- The Blues will finish off the month of February with their game at home against Seattle on Tuesday, before embarking on a 3-game road trip to start the month of March
- The Blues will play 15 games in March (9 away; 6 home)
- 11 of the Blues’ 15 games in March will come against Central Division opponents (3 against the Central)
