Seattle Kraken deliver dud in 3-2 loss to Blues ahead of trade deadline

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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MARCH 04: Joel Hofer #30 of the St. Louis Blues reacts to the puck during the third period of a game against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on March 04, 2026 in Seattle, Washington.  (Christopher Mast / NHLI / Getty Images)

SEATTLE - The Seattle Kraken followed up one of their best performances of the year in Monday night's win against the Carolina Hurricanes with a massive letdown heading into Friday's trade deadline.

The Kraken scored just 31 seconds into Wednesday night's game against the St. Louis Blues before falling apart in a 3-2 loss that keeps the team in firm limbo ahead of Friday's 12 p.m. PT trade deadline.

St. Louis is actively looking to sell off parts at the deadline while carrying the second-worst record in the Western Conference. And yet, they've managed to beat the Kraken twice in the last week – following up a 5-1 win in St. Louis last Thursday with the victory at Climate Pledge Arena on Wednesday night.

Vince Dunn scored with 6:26 left to play to cut the Blues' lead to one, and a Justin Faulk delay of game penalty for a puck over the glass with 2:06 left gave Seattle a prime chance to find the tying goal. But the goal never came as Joel Hofer made 34 saves on 36 shots in the win for St. Louis.

Jaden Schwartz buried a rebound past Hofer that gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead just 31 seconds into the game, but the Blues dominated the rest of the period. Logan Mailloux scored on a wraparound off a rebound just over five minutes later to tie the game at 1-1. Phiilipp Grubauer had to make several saves on dangerous chances from St. Louis to keep the game tied at the break.

Head coach Lane Lambert said he believed they started looking for too many "cute plays" during that stretch as they were on their heels.

The play leveled off in the second period with Seattle having an 8-3 edge in high-danger chances with a 10-5 edge in shots on goals, but it was still the Blues that found the only goal of the period. Cam Fowler delivered a terrific pass to Dylan Holloway on the backdoor of Grubauer to make it a 2-1 St. Louis lead.

Then 93 seconds into the third period, Robert Thomas buried a shot past Grubauer off a nice pass from Brayden Schenn for a 3-1 Blues lead.

Dunn's goal made it a 3-2 game, but Hofer made seven saves on the final power play chance as the Kraken were unable to force the game to overtime to steal a point.

Grubauer made 24 saves on 27 shots in goal for Seattle.

The loss leaves the Kraken in limbo entering Friday's deadline. They're good enough to make the playoffs in a weak Pacific Division, but can have too many games like Wednesday's loss to the Blues to feel like any threat once they get there. Seattle has four pending unrestricted free agents in captain Jordan Eberle, forwards Schwartz and Eeli Tolvanen, and defenseman Jamie Oleksiak that all could fetch future assets if dealt. However, the Kraken want to make the postseason again for just the second time in team history and could look to add instead.

The one thing it feels like they can't do is hold and not make any moves. Letting potentially all four free agents walk without getting anything in return seems silly, unless the quartet helps get the team back into the playoffs and potentially out of the first round.

There's nothing left to be learned about the team before Friday's deadline. Wednesday's effort just leaves a sour note.

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