Kyrou, Schenn, Walker score in third period, Blues top Kraken 4-1 in home finale just two days after being eliminated from postseason contention
ST. LOUIS -- In the end, there were smiles, but coming in, it was tough.
Less than 48 hours after the St. Louis Blues were eliminated from playoff contention, they were left to play the final two regular season games, including the home finale Sunday, with nothing to play for.
How does one get up for a game in which nothing matters anymore? Well, the Blues dug deep, found a way and earned themselves a 4-1 win at Enterprise Center, sending the home crowd away happy one final time.
The Blues (43-33-5), who close the season Wednesday in Dallas against the Stars, always talk about playing for each other.
It took a while, but on this day, it was about sending 18,096 home happy.
"It's great to win the last game in front of the fans," said forward Jordan Kyrou, whose tie-breaking goal 59 seconds into the third period turned out to be the game-winner. "Pretty much why we're playing, right?
"Obviously after last game, when we're out of the playoffs, it's tough, right? We've been working all year trying to make that. Sucks not being able to make the playoffs. It's good we can get a win, last game for them."
The Blues were eliminated when they lost 5-2 at home against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, and the Vegas Golden Knights trounced the Minnesota Wild 7-2, thus officially eliminating the Blues for the second straight season.
They still have to perform as professionals for the final two games, and come out on Sunday and play for their supporters.
"Yeah, just show them that we care," said Blues forward Kasperi Kapanen, who tied the game with a first-period goal. "Even though you're not making playoffs, you still want to play for the logo on the front and play with pride and I thought that's what we did today."
Let's take a look at some of the key moments from this one:
* Just no flow -- Not only were the Blues playing out the string, but the Kraken (33-34-13), who were eliminated last week, also know they are playing out the string, and there just wasn't any flow to this one in the early going.
Seattle, which is closing out its season with a four-game road trip, including a 3-1 loss at Dallas on Saturday, did actually bring some spring in its step at times with sustained zone time early on. But the Blues did a good enough job keeping pucks out of the middle of the ice.
* Turnover costly -- Each goalie (Joel Hofer for the Blues and Joey Daccord for the Kraken) had to make a key save early on, but the Kraken broke the ice on a beautiful shot from Jared McCann at 14:24 of the first to make it 1-0.
McCann intercepted a Marco Scandella attempted pass just inside the Seattle blue line and was off to the races before beating Hofer with a wicked wrister from the right circle.
"I felt we really didn't start getting ourselves going until probably around the last five minutes of the second period," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. "I thought we started to play better at that point and that carried over into the third for us."
* But ... -- The Blues, who didn't have a ton of life, found an answer when Kapanen buried a shot from the left circle to tie the game 1-1 at 18:18.
It came after Alexey Toropchenko checked Justin Schultz off the puck along the boards inside the Blues' zone after Schultz initially fanned on a shot and Toropchenko backhanded a pass for Kapanen to break out into an odd-man rush.
"I feel like throughout the year I probably would have pulled up and tried to make a pass or something else," Kapanen said. "So I thought I'd try shooting it for a change and it went in."
The Blues did an excellent job at killing off a Zach Dean double-minor for high-sticking at 18:43 of the first, limiting Seattle to one shot on goal.
* Bolduc almost -- There wasn't a ton going on in the second period either, but Zack Bolduc's bid for a goal in four straight games came so close when he took a pass and slid a backhand beating Daccord but hitting the near post.
As Bannister indicated, as did Seattle coach Dave Hakstol in his postgame presser, the final five minutes is where the Blues started tilting the ice towards the Kraken goal and they carried a 17-13 edge in shots into the final 20 minutes.
* Quick strike -- The Blues didn't waste any time in keeping momentum when Kyrou banged in a rebound for his 31st of the season 59 seconds in for a 2-1 lead.
The Blues broke the puck out and were able to get it behind and around the net to the point back to Matthew Kessel, whose one-timer was stopped but Kyrou was there to hammer home the rebound.
"'Buchy' and 'Saader' behind the net there, 'Buchy' gave it to 'Saader', was looking for me in the slot, wasn't open, gave it to 'Kess' and 'Kess' made a good one-timer," Kyrou said, "and the puck just kind of popped right to me."
* Schennsational 20 -- Brayden Schenn, who twice this season had lengthy goal droughts of 16 and 18 games, respectively, reached the 20-goal mark for the eighth time in his NHL career and third straight season when he converted a breakaway goal at 16:37 for a 3-1 lead.
It started with another excellent stretch pass from Nick Leddy, who had himself a terrific game, that turned into a breakaway. There was going to be a penalty on Schultz, but Schenn stayed with the play and from a sharp angle, put a shot off the top of Daccord's skate and in.
"I think we just tried to simplify the second period on," Kapanen said. "They were taking over the game and staying in our zone, so I think we just simplified, got pucks deep and ended up working out for us."
* Walker caps it -- Nathan Walker's 170-foot empty-netter at 19:00 sealed the win, sending the Blues into the off-season with a respectable 25-14-2 home mark and saluting the fans with the jerseys off their backs.
"For me, it was all about the fans, making sure that we played for the fans tonight, getting the win so the fans can go home obviously happy," Bannister said. "I think that was the No. 1 thing for us here tonight was make sure we do the right things for the fans."
"We just wanted to play a good game today and show the fans that we're still trying and obviously missing playoffs is a disappointment," Kapanen said. "I thought throughout the year we had a lot of ups and downs, but I think just to play a good game today to kind of show them that we're ready to go back to work next year."
