Wright scores in OT, Kraken rally to defeat Blues

ST. LOUIS – Shane Wright scored at 1:57 of overtime, and the Seattle Kraken rallied for a 4-3 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Saturday.

The Kraken had the puck the entire overtime after winning the initial face-off before Wright skated in from the left side and sent a shot under Joel Hofer's glove.

“I thought we showed a lot of character coming back,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said, “especially after our last game (a 6-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday) and coming out and going down 2-0. It’s a credit to our guys to fight back.”

Chandler Stephenson tied it 3-3 at 19:58 of the third period when his long-distance wrist shot beat Hofer through traffic. The goal was upheld after a League-initiated review for potential goalie interference.

“We were certain on the bench that we were going to win the game because the criteria for goalie interference is first, the player has to be in the blue paint,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. "Then he has to impede the goalie from playing his position. His left skate hits our goalie's stick, and when he hits the goalie's stick, his arm has to come in. He cannot use his blocker because of [Jordan] Eberle's foot hitting his stick and turning his arm in. The puck goes in on the blocker side. For us, it meets all the criteria for goalie interference.”

Eeli Tolvanen had a goal and two assists, and Ryker Evans had a goal and an assist for the Kraken (7-3-4), who are 3-1-2 in their past six games. Philipp Grubauer made 16 saves in his second start of the season.

Dylan Holloway, Dalibor Dvorsky and Jordan Kyrou scored for the Blues (5-8-3), who are 2-1-1 in their past four. Hofer made 26 saves.

“First period, I thought we were really good,” Holloway said. “Second period, we kind of took our foot off the gas a little bit, and third period, I thought we were playing stingy hockey and guys are battling and trying to get that two points. There’s a lot of good from that game, but also a lot of stuff we need to work on.”

Holloway made it 1-0 at 5:30 of the first period when he intercepted Ryan Winterton’s outlet pass through the middle of the ice and beat Grubauer with a wrist shot from the high slot.

Dvorsky pushed the lead to 2-0 at 9:40 on the power play. He sent a shot pass from the right circle to the front of the net that deflected in off the stick of Seattle defenseman Adam Larsson.

Evans, who made his season debut after missing the first 13 games with an upper-body injury, scored with a slap shot from just outside the left face-off circle to make it 2-1 at 8:28 of the second period.

“It was a long training camp for me, so it was good to get back in regular season games and to get back with the guys,” Evans said. “You just try to make some simple plays, get some touches so you can feel it again.

“Obviously I’m going to have an attack mindset this year, I think we all are, so we’ve just got to get pucks towards the net and [Ben] Meyers had a great screen. I was just able to find a hole there.”

Tolvanen tied it 2-2 on the power play at 15:25 when he followed up the rebound of Vince Dunn’s point shot with a snap shot from the right circle. It was Tolvanen’s first goal this season.

“It’s been a while,” Tolvanen said. “You start thinking about it, but it’s always good to get the first one.”

Kyrou, who was a healthy scratch in a 3-0 win at the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, gave the Blues a 3-2 lead at 5:10 of the third. He stayed with a loose puck at the left of the net, skated out in front and lifted it over Grubauer.

“Just felt good to give our team the lead,” Kyrou said. “It’s tough we couldn’t pull that win out today.”

NOTES: Stephenson's goal was the latest game-tying tally in Kraken history (previously 59:38 on Dec. 18, 2023). ... Wright became the second-youngest player to score an overtime goal for Seattle, following Matty Beniers (20 years, 26 days) on Dec. 1, 2022. It was also Wright's first career NHL overtime goal. … Kyrou had a team-high four shots on goal in 16:00 of ice time.