SEATTLE 鈥 In the time that bridged spring to summer to training camp and eventually to Tuesday afternoon鈥檚 3-2 season-opening Blues win over the Kraken, the St. 不良研究所导航网址 coaching staff spied an opportunity.
In their scouting of Seattle, they saw a chance to take advantage of flat-footed Kraken defensemen on a Blues power play and then enacted the plan during the first man-advantage of the season. Justin Faulk dropped the puck to Robert Thomas, and Thomas picked on a stationary Jamie Oleksiak to spring Jordan Kyrou around the edge for his first of two goals in a comeback win.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all built on what you鈥檙e going to see from team to team,鈥 Blues coach Drew Bannister said. 鈥淲e just felt like tonight was a good opportunity where we might catch them standing still and we could use Jordan鈥檚 speed. If not, Tommer had a lot of speed where he could carry the line, too.鈥
The goal snapped the Blues back into the game after falling behind 2-0, and Kyrou helped lug St. 不良研究所导航网址 to a win in the first NHL game of the season in North America. Philip Broberg also scored in his first game wearing the Note as Jordan Binnington made 30 saves.
Former Blue Vince Dunn and Eeli Tolvanen each scored for the Kraken.
鈥淔resh start to the year, new season,鈥 Kyrou said. 鈥淪o feeling good.鈥
Kyrou鈥檚 two goals is an undoubtedly welcome sign for a Blues team that could ride the scoring efforts of their top three forwards this season. Last season, Kyrou didn鈥檛 score his second goal until the 10th game of the season. The year before that, it took him until the seventh game.
This year? It took Kyrou 13 shifts to reach two goals.
鈥淗e took advantage of his opportunities,鈥 Bannister said. 鈥淭here was a couple more opportunities where I鈥檇 like to see him really bear down. He鈥檚 finding areas, guys were finding him. He鈥檚 using his speed, he鈥檚 competing and good things happen when he鈥檚 doing that.鈥
Kyrou helped create his second goal by darting to the blue line on a lost defensive zone faceoff, disrupting the play and helping to force a turnover to teammate Alexandre Texier. Kyrou flew out of the zone and awaited Texier鈥檚 saucer pass that sent him in for a breakaway.
Kyrou did the rest in beating Philipp Grubauer again to give the Blues their first lead of the season.
鈥淗e was on his toes,鈥 Bannister said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something that we weren鈥檛 doing in the first half. He jumped on the (faceoff) loss, broke up a play, Tex got a hold of the puck and sent him off. Good stuff.鈥
Kyrou tied for the team lead with seven shot attempts, and his two goals paced the Blues. But perhaps it was a different St. 不良研究所导航网址 forward who sparked the comeback effort.
With 9:01 elapsed in the second period and the Blues trailing 2-0, officials disallowed Oleksiak鈥檚 would-be goal due to offside. The puck briefly exited the zone before Oleksiak hammered it back in while his teammates were still below the blue line. During the stoppage in play, Nathan Walker tried his hand at getting his teammates going.
Walker bumped Dunn close to the benches, setting off a brouhaha that materialized almost out of nothing. Walker and Dunn each were assessed roughing minors, while Alexey Toropchenko and Yanni Gourde received fighting majors.
Walker summarized the encounter by saying, 鈥淲e just kind of ran into each other. Our paths crossed, and that was pretty much it.鈥
鈥淚 just felt we were a little flat, so thought I鈥檇 stir it up a bit and try to get us some energy,鈥 Walker said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always nice when you do something like that and then the big boys go out and get two quick goals like that.鈥
After the dustup, the Blues owned 10 of the next 13 shots on goal, and scored the next three goals. That was after Seattle began the second period with seven straight shots on goal. Bannister said he didn鈥檛 see what started the scuffle, but he appreciated it.
鈥淪ometimes, a little bit of pushback is good,鈥 Bannister said. 鈥淚 think at that point, we needed a little bit more energy to our game.鈥
Kyrou called it a 鈥渕omentum booster.鈥
鈥淭hat first period, we started off a little slow,鈥 Kyrou said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e playing a little hesitant, not being aggressive on pucks. After Walks and Torpo and Faksa scrummed it up a little bit there, got the boys going a little bit. We started playing our game. ... It just gets you pumped up. First game of the year, it鈥檚 excitement and it鈥檚 exciting. Seeing the boys fight for you like that, it鈥檚 awesome. Just gets you pumped up.鈥
From there, the Blues locked it down in the third period.
While protecting a one-goal lead, the Blues were even with the Kraken with 17 shot attempts. They outshot Seattle 6-4 in the period, and half of the Kraken鈥檚 shots came on the power play. In the final 11:50 of the game, the Blues did not allow a single shot on goal. That鈥檚 two television timeouts and 102 seconds of an empty Seattle net that the Blues held strong.
鈥淚 think the whole third period, we were really good,鈥 Bannister said. 鈥淭hat shots that they got were probably on the power play, but after that, there was limited chances. I thought we supported the puck well, pretty good on the walls. Our D got back to pucks. But we forced them to play from their goalline back. We were able to get on our forecheck and we created some good offensive opportunities where their goalie had to make some pretty difficult saves.鈥
Broberg added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about sacrifice. A lot guys blocking shots and putting the team first, and it鈥檚 always nice to see that.鈥
The goal was part of the Blues鈥 second-period outburst, and started off Broberg鈥檚 career in St. 不良研究所导航网址 with something he hadn鈥檛 done much in Ed…
Blues forward Jordan Kyrou, left, celebrates his second goal of the game with defenseman Colton Parayko (55) during the second period of the season opener Tuesday in Seattle. The Blues beat the Kraken 3-2.
Kraken defenseman and former Blue Vince Dunn (29) fights with Blues defenseman Colton Parayko, left facing, as Kraken center Yanni Gourde, center, fights with Blues right wing Alexey Toropchenko (13) during the second period of a game Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Seattle.
Defenseman Philip Broberg, left, celebrates his first goal as a Blue with forward Dylan Holloway, right, during the second period of a game against the Kraken on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Seattle. Broberg and Holloway were both acquired this offseason from Edmonton after signing offer sheets from the Blues.