Blues brush aside trade distractions to beat Kraken, 3-2

Matthew DeFranks, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Mar 5, 2026

Published in Hockey

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If that was it for this group of Blues, they went out with a win.

In their last game before Friday's trade deadline, the Blues beat the Kraken 3-2 on Wednesday night in what could be the final game together for some of St. Louis' key players.

Logan Mailloux, Dylan Holloway and Robert Thomas scored for the Blues, and Joel Hofer made 35 saves as the Blues picked up their third win in four games since returning from the Olympic break. Brayden Schenn had three assists.

Former Blues Jaden Schwartz and Vince Dunn each scored against their old team.

The trade deadline is Friday at 2 p.m., hours before the Blues face the Sharks in San Jose.

Not how you draw it up

The Kraken scored just 31 seconds into the game on Wednesday night as Schwartz found the back of the net for his 10th goal of the season. It was just Schwartz's second goal in the last 21 games.

After a seemingly harmless point shot from Adam Larsson, Hofer kicked out a rebound to his right but directly to the waiting stick of Schwartz. It was the sixth time this season that the Blues have allowed a goal in the first minute of the game.

The Schwartz goal was part of a hot start for Seattle, as the Kraken had the game's first five shots on goal. The Blues didn't record a shot until 5:12 passed in the first period, but then they made their push. St. Louis had 12 of the next 14 shots, and that included the equalizer.

Mailloux scored for the second straight game, and this time his wraparound goal at 6:50 tied the game at 1. Mailloux also scored Sunday in Minnesota, and played a season-high 20:35 on Saturday against the Devils. He surpassed that total on Wednesday by playing 22:52.

Mailloux had the initial shot on goal, then followed the puck behind the net and tucked it in on the nearside behind Philipp Grubauer.

Role reversal

The second period for the Blues has been the worst period in the entire league this season, and they entered Wednesday with a minus-29 goal margin in the middle 20 minutes. But St. Louis outscored the Kraken 1-0 in the second period to carry a 2-1 lead into the third period.

Dylan Holloway's goal at 7:40 of the second period was his fourth goal in the last week against Seattle, as he had a hat trick last week at Enterprise Center in the Blues' first game back from the Olympic break. After penalties to Seattle's Eeli Tolvanen (hooking) and St. Louis' Pavel Buchnevich (tripping) resulted in 4 on 4 play, Holloway drove the back post in transition, allowing Cam Fowler to find him to Grubauer's right.

The Blues were actually outshot 10-5 by Seattle in the second period, but came out ahead on the scoreboard.

Holloway's goal set the stage for Thomas' goal just 1:33 into the third period that gave the Blues a two-goal cushion. Thomas snuck into the slot, finding space for Brayden Schenn to find him with a pass before Thomas whipped a shot glove-side on Grubauer.

Hanging on

What was once a comfortable two-goal advantage in the third period became tenuous when Dunn scored with 6:26 remaining in regulation on a pass from Jordan Eberle to the low slot.

The lead became more precarious when Justin Faulk took a delay of game penalty with 2:06 left when his backhand sailed out of play. But the Blues killed the ensuing Kraken power play, which included extended time of a 6 on 4 advantage when Seattle pulled their goalie.

In the last 2:06, Hofer made six saves.

No Parayko

While at the center of trade speculation on Wednesday, Blues defenseman Colton Parayko did not play against the Kraken, but it was because of back spasms that forced him to miss each of the last three games.

Parayko missed Saturday's loss to New Jersey, Sunday's win over Minnesota and Wednesday's win over Seattle. The three games were the first that the right-handed defenseman missed all season.

Earlier on Wednesday, TSN's Darren Dreger reported that the Blues were trading Parayko to Buffalo pending Parayko's approval due to his no-trade clause. The report stated that prospect Radim Mrtka and a first-round pick would be sent to St. Louis.

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