Blackhawks bend but don't break in victory over Kraken

For the second straight game this season against the Seattle Kraken, the Chicago Blackhawks held a 2-0 lead going into the third period. Instead of collapsing as they did in November, they closed out the game and added to the Kraken’s recent misery. The 4-2 win ended a six-game losing streak in Seattle and was only the Blackhawks’ second all-time win at Climate Pledge Arena.

With their playoff hopes dimming, you knew the Kraken would push, and the Blackhawks made us sweat out the third period. They had to kill off an early penalty before giving up a goal with just over nine minutes to play. The fourth line responded just over two minutes later with Sacha Boisvert’s first career NHL goal.

Boisvert’s goal turned out to be the game-winner as Kaapo Kakko scored 70 seconds later to cut the lead to 3-2. Even with Seattle pushing as hard as they were, the Blackhawks were able to counter. They still produced seven scoring chances, so they made good use of the limited puck possession they had in the final frame.

The way they played in the third period, especially the shifts immediately following Kraken goals, shows a young team that is growing. They are learning those hard lessons and turning them into wins. We’ve seen this group give away numerous games in the third period, including against Seattle, but tonight they continued grinding and earned a big win. That’s progress. That’s a team maturing.

Message Received

The Blackhawks had 58 shot attempts in Thursday's loss to the Edmonton Oilers. That is a very good night considering they are averaging just over 41 shot attempts per game. The problem was that they only got 18 shots on goal, with 20 attempts missing the net completely.

“Some guys need to hit the net and try to hit perfect corners,” Blashill said. “Let’s focus on hitting the net and making the goalie make the save. And I think we need more chaos. I felt there were times when we got pucks, especially at our offensive blue line, and could have shot pucks or got to the middle of the ice, and we didn’t do a good enough job.

Blashill’s message was heard loud and clear. From the opening faceoff, the Blackhawks made a concerted effort to force Philipp Grubauer to stop the puck. Ilya Mikheyev had a mini-breakaway early on, and instead of missing the net as he did in a similar chance in Edmonton, Grubauer had to make a quick glove save. The Blackhawks had 17 shot attempts in the first period, with 10 of them getting on goal.

The Blackhawks finished with 59 shot attempts, with 31 finding the target. That is a significant improvement achieved by a simplified approach. Another sign that this group is buying into what Blashill is preaching and turning it into positive results.

Top Line Gets Turbo-Boosted

Teuvo Teravainen has had a roller coaster season. He’s had stretches where he’s been one of the best forwards on the team, but those days felt like ages ago over the past few weeks. The veteran forward started the post-Olympic schedule red hot, with three goals and nine points in the first eight games after winning a bronze medal with Finland. After that, he went 10 straight games without a point.

Teravainen, who admittedly lost confidence, was demoted to the fourth line and was playing fewer minutes than he had all season long. Midway through the game in Edmonton, Blashill switched up his lines and put Teravainen on the top line. He responded well, immediately clicking with Nick Lardis and Connor Bedard. He snapped his pointless streak with the primary assist on Lardis’ goal.

The new top line was dangerous from the get-go, producing two quick scoring chances on the opening shift. Bedard was enjoying setting up his wingers to start the middle frame. He made two nice passes to give Lardis a pair of scoring chances in the opening minute. Two shifts later, he set up for a glorious chance, but he couldn’t connect. Bedard could have easily had three assists in the second period alone.

Later in the middle frame, Teravainen showed that a little confidence can go a long way. On the power play, he drove the net looking to set up Tyler Bertuzzi on the side of the net. Once he realized the play was covered, he just flipped the puck towards the net and was rewarded with his 14th goal of the season. They don’t all need to be one-timers or bar-down wristers.

In 11:28 of 5-on-5 time, the new top line had a 65.00 Corsi for percentage (CF%). They outshot the Kraken 8-1, while holding a 7-3 advantage in scoring chances. Individually, Teravainen finished the night with a power-play goal, four shots on goal, six shot attempts, and two blocked shots. This was only his fourth game of the season with at least four shots on goal.

Nuggets & Tidbits

• Arvid Soderblom was excellent in his 100th career NHL start. He made numerous big saves throughout the night, but none bigger than his stop on Bobby McMann right after the Blackhawks took the lead. Both of the goals he allowed came on high-danger shots, and he made all the stops he needed to make.

• Kevin Korchinski dressed for the 100th time in the NHL tonight. He continues to look confident and calm. While he remains sheltered, he is succeeding. He still hasn’t been on the ice for a goal against in his four games since being recalled.

• Ryan Donato led the Blackhawks with six shots on goal and 10 shot attempts. He had a bit of a jump to his step playing with Ryan Greene and Frank Nazar. That line had 15 shot attempts, while only allowing eight.

• After having 20 of their shots blocked by the Oilers on Thursday, they returned the favor by blocking 20 of the Kraken’s shots tonight. Thirteen of the 18 skaters had at least one blocked shot. Ethan Del Mastro, Louis Crevier, and Alex Vlasic led the way with three.