After wild 3rd period, Kraken upend Blues in shootout

Chandler Stephenson scored the shootout-winning goal to give the host Seattle Kraken a 4-3 comeback victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

Jaden Schwartz, Mikey Eyssimont and Shane Wright also scored for the Kraken (35-40-6, 76 points). Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 20 saves through overtime.

Nick Leddy netted one goal and one assist while Radek Faksa and Colton Parayko scored for the Blues (43-30-8, 94 points), who hold a four-point lead on the Calgary Flames for the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot.

The Blues have one game remaining, Tuesday at home against the Utah Hockey Club. The Flames have three games remaining.

Goalie Jordan Binnington stopped 14 shots for St. Louis, which has lost three consecutive games (0-2-1).

In the seventh round of the shootout after both teams scored twice, Stephenson notched the winning goal with a slow approach to the slot before firing a perfect shot for the first shootout winner of his career.

With a chance to prolong the shootout, St. Louis’ Jimmy Snuggerud sent a shot wide to end a wild affair.

Schwartz opened the scoring at 3:44 of the second period with his team-high 25th goal of the season. His pass attempt on a 2-on-1 rush was blocked, but the puck came back to him and he made the most of the second opportunity.

The craziness began after the second intermission. Faksa replied 64 seconds into the third period by pouncing on a rebound to tie the score.

Eyssimont again put the Kraken ahead at 6:44 when he converted off the rush, but the Blues responded right away with a pair of goals 13 seconds apart.

Parayko tied the game at 7:21 when he lifted a backhand shot from the slot as he broke in alone, and Leddy gave the Blues a 3-2 lead with a long point shot that found the mark.

However, Wright tied the clash at 9:53 with his 19th of the season, benefiting from a puck that bounced into the net off his skate as he drove to the net.

–Field Level Media