Kraken's offensive struggles continue in 3-1 loss to Blackhawks

Kate Shefte, The Seattle Times on Dec 19, 2024

Published in Hockey

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Blackhawks 3, Kraken 1 at United Center

— Notable: The Kraken dropped their third straight game and fifth of seven, 3-1 in Chicago.

The first period was goal-free and penalty-free. Center Yanni Gourde stopped a certain strike from Chicago’s Joey Anderson, who watched the puck bounce off the crossbar and directly to him with Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord (21 saves) on the other side of the crease. Gourde, returning after missing three games with an undisclosed injury, blocked Anderson’s shot with his body then swept it away to safety.

The Kraken have scored only three total goals in their last four losses. They were coming off a shutout and didn’t manage to find the net during the first 51 minutes of this one. They generated little offense and it was a matter of time until the Blackhawks struck, which they did, twice. Ilya Mikheyev scored Chicago’s first two goals.

The Kraken saw daylight when defenseman Ryker Evans finally scored with 8:34 left in the third period to make it 2-1. He accepted a pass from Oliver Bjorkstrand and lunged toward the half-empty net, putting it in off the side of sliding Chicago goaltender Arvid Soderblom.

That was soon canceled out by former Seattle Thunderbird Nolan Allan’s first NHL goal for Chicago, with the primary assist going to former Kraken center Ryan Donato.

The rebuilding Blackhawks, who regularly finish among the league’s worst, won a third straight game for the first time in 22 months.

Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy got tangled up with Seattle center Chandler Stephenson and wanted to fight him, dropping his gloves and assuming the stance. Stephenson skated away, wanting no part of it. Top Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn recently returned from more than a month on injured reserve, but that memory wasn’t enough to keep him from sticking up from his teammate and charging in to take on Murphy instead. After a quick shove, both Dunn and Murphy went to their respective penalty boxes.

In his Kraken debut, trade pickup Kaapo Kakko played with Matty Beniers and Jared McCann and saw power-play time, as alluded to by general manager Ron Francis earlier in the day. At regular strength, he hit the goalpost.

— Player of the game: Mikheyev (two goals)

— Goal of the game: Allan’s third-period goal snuffed out the last bit of hope for the Kraken, who had just ended a long shutout streak thanks to Evans.

— On tap: The Kraken play the Pacific Division leaders, the Vegas Golden Knights, on Saturday. That’s the second of a three-game road trip before a break for Christmas.