Nick Leddy had a goal and an assist, and Radek Faksa and Colton Parayko also scored for the Blues (43-30-8), who lost their third straight game (0-2-1) since their 12-game win streak that began on March 15 ended with a 3-1 loss at the Winnipeg Jets on April 7. Jordan Binnington had 14 saves.
"I just think we were a little tight to start the game for whatever reason, but we loosened up,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. “I thought our second period, the first five minutes, we started seeing Blues hockey, and the entire third I didn't like how tight we were defensively in the third. I thought we gave them a little bit too much space after we had dominated for quite a bit."
The Blues entered the game tied for the first wild card in the Western Conference with the Minnesota Wild. With Minnesota beating the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in overtime, St. Louis holds the second wild card, a point behind Minnesota with a game left to play for each team. The Blues are four points ahead of the Calgary Flames, who have three games remaining.
"If you're immersed in the moment, and you're thinking about what you control, which is your next shift and what you're supposed to do, and you're immersed in the details and our habits, then you don't even feel the pressure,” Montgomery said. “This is a welcomed opportunity, and that's the way we're looking at."
Schwartz made it 1-0 at 3:44 of the second period off a 2-on-1 rush with Stephenson. Schwartz attempted a cross-slot feed to Stephenson, but Leddy slid to break up the pass. It bounced off Leddy and back to Schwartz, who fired it into an open net behind Binnington.
“It’s special to score every time,” Schwartz, who played parts of 10 seasons for the Blues between 2011 and 2021, said. “I’ve got a lot of good buddies over there and a lot of good memories, so it’s nice to get the win and to contribute.”
Faksa tied it 1-1 at 1:06 of the third period after Leddy’s shot from the point hit Nathan Walker at the top of the slot and deflected to Faksa at the bottom of the right circle. Faksa sent a backhander from just above the goal line into the crease that bounced off Grubauer’s left pad and in.
Eyssimont regained a 2-1 lead for Seattle at 6:44 of the third, one-timing Tye Kartye’s rebound over Binnington’s blocker and under the crossbar from the left circle.
“We had to battle back in the third period,” Seattle coach Dan Bylsma said. “We got some good plays by Tye Kartye and Mikey Eyssimont with that pass-off-the-pads goal.”
Parayko, who played his first game since suffering a knee injury in a 3-2 win at the Los Angeles Kings on March 5, tied it again 2-2 on a partial breakaway at 7:21 after a give-and-go with Robert Thomas, deking to his backhand and lifting it off Grubauer’s right arm and in.
“I just noticed that they had some guys that got trapped below our goal line and just tried to jump up in the play to make an odd-man rush,” Parayko said. “I pushed it up to ‘Tommer,’ and ‘Tommer’ made a great play through the guy’s legs.”
“[Parayko] looked really good,” Montgomery said. “He looks like he’s ready to go full tilt again.”
Leddy gave St. Louis a 3-2 lead 13 seconds later at 7:34 with a slap shot from the point that went through a screen and over Grubauer’s right shoulder.
“We got that swagger back in the third period,” Leddy said. “That’s how we were playing during that win streak, and we can see how effective that is.”
