February 26, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko (55) defends against Seattle Kraken center Chandler Stevenson (9) at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Image After missing eight straight games and 23 of the previous 24 games with a right ankle sprain, St. Louis’ Dylan Holloway was hoping to stay upright when he returned to the lineup last Thursday against Seattle.
He did much more.
Holloway notched his second career NHL hat trick and added an assist as the host Blues beat the Kraken 5-1 in their first game after the Olympic break.
The two teams are scheduled to meet again Wednesday in Seattle.
“I’m definitely healthier than I was when I tried to come back against Edmonton,” Holloway said of the 5-0 loss on Jan. 18. “An ankle injury is a difficult injury to recover from, but I feel good now and I’m just hoping to stay healthy for the rest of the year.”
“It definitely feels good. When you go out like that, it feels like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel, especially with an injury. It’s hard to watch. I want to help the team, I want to be around the guys. It was just nice to be back. I just wanted to enjoy it. Honestly, I’m just grateful I can play if I couldn’t make an impact right now. But it’s definitely nice to be able to make an impact on the score sheet.”
The Blues opened a four-game road trip with a 3-1 win at Minnesota on Sunday. They’ll stop in Seattle on Wednesday, then finish the trip with games in San Jose on Friday and Anaheim on Sunday.
Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas each had a goal and an assist against the Wild, while Joel Hopper made 22 saves. This was Thomas’ first appearance since January 10, after missing 13 games due to a lower body injury.
“It’s always hard to miss a month,” Thomas said. “I mean, (the) game got better as the game went on and I felt pretty good.”
Buchnevich leads the Blues with 38 points and is tied with Jordan Kyrou and Jake Neighbors for the team lead with 14 goals.
This will be the third and final regular season meeting between the Blues and Kraken. They split their first two games in St. Louis.
The Kraken won 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 8 on a goal by Shane Wright after Chandler Stephenson tied the game with two seconds left in regulation.
Then, in last Thursday’s matchup, the Blues outscored the Kraken 4-0 over the final two periods.
The Kraken have won both games since that night, including a 2-1 win over Eastern Conference-leading Carolina on Monday. Joey Daccord made 35 saves, Kaapo Kakko and Ben Meyers scored and defenseman Adam Larsson had two assists.
With the win, the Kraken moved past Edmonton 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 are games where he’s just as tough, maybe the hits won’t necessarily show up on the scoresheet as much,” Lambert said. “But his presence, as well as his presence around the net in the defensive zone, was huge.”
–Field level media
