After missing eight straight games and 23 of the previous 24 with a right high ankle sprain, St. Louis’ Dylan Holloway was just hoping to stay upright when he returned to the lineup last Thursday against Seattle.
He did so much more.
Holloway had his second career NHL hat trick and added an assist as the host Blues beat the Kraken 5-1 in their first game back from the Olympic break.
The teams will meet again Wednesday in Seattle.
“Definitely healthier than when I tried to come back against Edmonton,” Holloway said of a 5-0 loss on Jan. 18. “The ankle injury’s kind of a tough one to come back from, but it feels great now, and just hoping to stay healthy the rest of the way here.
“It definitely feels good. Being out like that, it feels like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel, especially getting reinjured. It’s tough watching. You want to be helping the team, being with the boys. It was great just to be back. I just wanted to enjoy it. Honestly, if I didn’t have an impact now, I’m just grateful to be able to play. But it’s obviously nice to have an impact on the score sheet.”
The Blues opened a four-game trip Sunday with a 3-1 victory at Minnesota. After Wednesday’s stop in Seattle, they’ll finish the trip with games Friday in San Jose and Sunday in Anaheim.
Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas each had a goal and an assist against the Wild, and Joel Hofer made 22 saves. It was Thomas’ first appearance since Jan. 10, as he missed 13 games with a lower-body injury.
“It’s always tough missing a month,” Thomas said. “I mean, (the) game kind of felt better as the game went on, and I felt pretty good.”
Buchnevich tops the Blues with 38 points and is tied with Jordan Kyrou and Jake Neighbours for the team lead with 14 goals.
This will be the third and final regular-season meeting between the Blues and Kraken this season. They split the first two games, both in St. Louis.
The Kraken won 4-3 in overtime Nov. 8 on Shane Wright’s goal after Chandler Stephenson tied the score with two seconds remaining in regulation.
Then came last Thursday’s matchup, when the Blues outscored the Kraken 4-0 over the final two periods.
The Kraken have won both their games since that night, including a 2-1 victory Monday against visiting Carolina, the Eastern Conference leaders. Joey Daccord made 35 saves, Kaapo Kakko and Ben Meyers scored, and defenseman Adam Larsson had two assists.
The victory moved the Kraken past Edmonton and into third place in the Pacific Division.
Kraken coach Lane Lambert praised the play of defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, who had a career-high 11 hits and blocked two shots.
“There’s games where he’s equally as hard. Maybe the hits don’t show up necessarily on the score sheet so much,” Lambert said. “But his presence, and certainly his presence around the net in the defensive zone, was huge.”
