Rallying for three third-period goals to defeat the Eastern Conference leaders has a way of kick-starting a locker room.
After turning the trick Tuesday against the Washington Capitals, the Chicago Blackhawks will aim to maintain their momentum versus the visiting Seattle Kraken on Thursday. A victory would give the Blackhawks their first three-game winning streak of the season.
Chicago captured successive wins for just the second time by following Sunday’s 5-3 home win against the New York Islanders with a come-from-behind, 3-2 victory over the visiting Capitals.
“It’s great because we’ve been in spots where we’ve been up a couple goals and end up losing,” said Chicago’s Ryan Donato, who scored the game-winning goal against Washington, “so it feels good to kind of be on the other side of things, and knowing that whatever the score is, it could be a lot worse, right? … Being down a couple goals and being able to battle back just goes to show we can come back in games like that.”
Donato drove the goal line from the right side to score the game-winner with 2:18 remaining.
Teuvo Teravainen set up the goal for his third assist of the night and second consecutive three-point effort. To Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen, engagement and fundamentals have fueled Teravainen’s surge.
“The biggest thing with him is skating,” Sorensen said. “When he’s involved and engaged and playing on the interior of the ice and supporting that way, you see some of the things he did today. That’s the biggest thing you notice with him. That’s what we encourage with him, and maybe that was lacking a bit for a while there. Seems he definitely found that rhythm again.”
Seattle, meanwhile, remains out of sync, especially on the attack.
The Kraken lost three of four in their homestand against Eastern Conference contenders. Take away a 5-1 rout of the Boston Bruins on Dec. 12 and the Kraken were outscored 10-2 in three losses, the past two by a combined score of 8-1.
“I think you just got to take a look at the scenario, the setting and where we’re at in the season, and I think that desperation has got to creep into our game on a nightly basis and when it’s not, it’s evident,” Seattle coach Dan Bylsma said after Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Seattle hasn’t scored in five periods, dating to Brandon Montour’s power-play goal in the first period of Saturday’s 5-1 loss to Tampa Bay.
Center Matty Beniers can attest to the offensive slump. Beniers, who on Tuesday became the third member of the 2021 NHL Draft class to play in 200 games, has not scored since the Kraken’s 3-1 win against the visiting Blackhawks on Nov. 14.
The Calder Trophy winner as Rookie of the Year in 2022-23, Beniers has four goals and 13 assists in 33 games.
“As long as you’re getting chances or creating opportunities, whether it’s yourself shooting or creating plays that other guys are shooting, then you know it’s going to come. That’s kind of the mindset,” Beniers said. “Points are going to come in different ways but when you’re getting chances and opportunities consistently then you’re not as worried about that. You’re more worried about the process of it.”
Seattle acquired forward Kaapo Kakko from the New York Rangers on Wednesday for defenseman Will Borgen and third- and sixth-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Kakko, 23, has four goals, 10 assists, 14 penalty minutes and a plus-9 rating in 30 games this season. The Rangers picked Kakko, a native of Finland, second overall in the 2019 NHL Draft. He has 61 goals, 70 assists, 80 penalty minutes and a plus-13 rating in 330 regular-season games since the 2019-20 season.
–Field Level Media
