Dylan Holloway hat trick leads Blues back from Olympic break, over Kraken 5-1

Matthew DeFranks, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Feb 26, 2026

Published in Hockey

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

ST. LOUIS — It seems like the Blues are happy to be back.

In their first game after the Olympic break, the Blues beat the Kraken, 5-1, on Thursday behind a four-point night by Dylan Holloway. Holloway (three goals, one assist) and linemates Pius Suter (one goal, two assists) and Jonatan Berggren (two assists) combined for nine points against Seattle, supporting Joel Hofer's 23 saves.

It was Holloway's second career hat trick. His previous one was Dec. 23, 2024 for the Blues in Detroit.

The win was just the second for the Blues in the last 10 games.

The Blues had not played since Feb. 4 in Dallas, when they suffered a last-minute loss to the Stars. They returned to practice last week, but Thursday brought a new target.

“I think everybody is (ready)," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said before the game. "You could tell. Guys were anxious today, but it’s like ‘Enough of practicing against each other.’ It’s time to play a game.”

'Holl' the way back

Holloway made sure his return to the lineup on Thursday was more successful than his false start on Jan. 18 in Edmonton. The decision to return from a high-ankle sprain in January cost him the last eight games before the break. The decision to return now resulted in two goals.

It was Holloway's first multi-goal game of the season as he entered the night with only eight goals in his 34 games.

He scored about eight minutes into the first period to give the Blues a 1-0 lead, taking a feed from Jonatan Berggren behind the net and wiring it past Seattle goaltender Philipp Grubauer. The play began when Suter recovered Tyler Tucker's dump-in along the wall and found Berggren low.

Holloway had not scored a goal since Dec. 7, which was about a week before he originally hurt his ankle in practice.

Holloway's second goal of the night was the team's second in 23 seconds early in the second period. After Jordan Kyrou's goal 1:12 into the second period gave the Blues a 2-1 lead, Holloway followed up shortly after with a goal that pushed the St. Louis edge to 3-1.

Holloway bear Ryker Evans to a puck behind the Seattle net, setting up Logan Mailloux's point shot that created chaos at the net-front. Eventually, Holloway found a puck sitting in the crease and poked it across the goal line.

Holloway added an assist on Suter's goal at 1:56 of the third period that gave the Blues a 4-1 lead. His empty-netter with 3:01 remaining in the third period gave St. Louis a four-goal cushion.

Coming out hot

Montgomery theorized that the first 10 minutes of the game could belong to the Kraken since Seattle played Wednesday night in Dallas, knocking the rust off from a three-week break. The rest of the game would favor the Blues, the theory went.

But the Blues came out blazing in the first period, owning the game's first eight shots on goal and the game's first six hits. By the time Seattle mustered a shot on goal — 9:50 of the first period by Brandon Montour — the Blues already had a 1-0 lead thanks to Holloway.

Seattle pushed back with nine straight shots of its own, including an extended 2 1/2-minute stint in the Blues end after Jake Neighbours' tripping penalty at 9:59. The Kraken finally capitalized at the tail end of that with Kaapo Kakko's goal at the net-front.

The Kraken appeared to make it 3-2 in the second period when Evans' point shot glanced off Justin Faulk and trickled past Hofer. But Montgomery successfully challenged for offside as Freddy Gaudreau could not keep the puck in the offensive zone at the blue line before the goal.

Montgomery is now 15 for 16 in offside challenges in his NHL career.

Binnington sits

Jordan Binnington did not dress Thursday night in the first game back from the Olympic break, as Georgi Romanov backed up Hofer against the Kraken. Romanov spent all season in the AHL but was recalled during the break to practice with the Blues while Binnington was in Italy competing for Team Canada.

Binnington was technically designated non-roster and did not count on the Blues' active roster, but still remained on their salary cap ledger. The NHL allowed teams to keep players that played in Sunday's gold medal game as non-roster players for one game.

Binnington could return to action on Saturday against the Devils and U.S. hero Jack Hughes. He was the only Blues Olympian to not play on Thursday, as Colton Parayko (Canada), Philip Broberg (Sweden), Dalibor Dvorsky (Slovakia) and Suter (Switzerland) all suited up vs. Seattle.

The Blues signed Romanov before the season for AHL depth when Colten Ellis was claimed off waivers by the Sabres. Romanov has played in 10 career NHL games, including eight (six starts) last year for the Sharks. Romanov wore No. 35 for the Blues.