Will the Blues’ youngest forward and most veteran forward be able to keep up their electric first game performance?
The Blues have one game, and one win under their belt – Saturday’s 5-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Kraken, however, have four. They lost in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks, 5-4, in their season opener, won 4-1 over the Los Angeles Kings, lost 5-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Kraken’s home opener, and then lost 5-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes.
To say that the Blues have some catching up to do with the rest of the league is an understatement.
The Blues tonight will be visiting a couple old friends in defenseman Vince Dunn and forward Jaden Schwartz, who has two goals and an assist so far this season. Schwartz missed the Kraken’s games against the Blues last season, so this will be the first time he laces up against many of his closest friends. Will he have a case of the yips or will he know how to take advantage of his knowledge? The Blues have a team have changed in the year since Schwartz signed with the Kraken in free agency, but the goaltending is the same.
The Kraken’s goaltending is led by former Avalanche goalie Philipp Grubauer, who is in his second year with Seattle. Both he and Martin Jones have started two games, and neither goaltender’s stats are much to write home about. The season’s young and this is a small sample size, certainly – but tonight should be a good opportunity to build on the scoring that worked on Saturday night against the Blue Jackets and adjust to prevent the second period doldrums from happening again.