Almost a Comeback in Chicago

CHICAGO, IL - The Kraken started this one fast. They controlled play the first 90 seconds of the game and the Blackhawks couldn’t muster a shot on goal until more than four minutes into the game. But, as the game went on, it was Chicago more consistently getting possession of loose pucks, getting looks from the most dangerous areas of the ice, and converting building two separate two-goal leads - only one of which Seattle could answer.

“I didn't think we were sharp and it shows most in some of the chances against,” Dave Hakstol said. “Our Puck play was pretty sloppy through through the first two periods. And that was really the cause of a lot of problems. . .It's easy just to put it on puck play, but when you have shifts that are not crisp or not sharp. You're not taking care of the puck and (creating) opportunities. That's (when) you're going to have some ugly things happen.”

The Kraken battled back in the third period with a third goal, but the game ultimately resulted in a 4-3 Kraken loss.

Imperfect Pair

All the offense was coming off Kraken sticks to start this game. It took over four minutes for the Blackhawks to first test Grubauer. But after a Seattle power play, Chicago came to life. They surged offensively creating sustained zone time and as a result scored two goals in 89 seconds, marking the fifth pair of response goals by a Kraken opponent this season. The first goal belonged to Boris Katchouk who potted the rebound off Seth Jones’ shot (his 300^th NHL assist) behind a screened Philipp Grubauer. Jason Dickinson scored goal number two. On a sustained possession, Isaak Phillips had moved the puck well on the left side of the zone, but after a few shot attempts of his own, he sent the puck to Dickinson who beat Grubauer from high in the zone.

“We were creating a lot of offense, but I think at the expense of some turnovers and some Grade A chances for them,” Beniers said. “If we still generate that much offense and not give up as much that'd be something that we're going to strive for.”

The Right Kind of Response

Matty Beniers continues to be a point-per-game player against Chicago. Coming into this game, he had two goals in three contests against the Blackhawks, and tonight he added the Kraken’s first goal of the game to that stat line (2-2-4). Jared McCann picked off an errant Chicago pass and was off the races. Jones recovered to challenge defensively, but McCann dropped the puck to a trailing Beniers who capitalized his own rebound off Petr Mrazek.

After last year’s rookie of the year narrowed the gap on the scoreboard, a pair of penalties transitioned the game from a Kraken power play, to 4-on-4 play, to a Blackhawks skater advantage but the visitors were undeterred. After gathering a puck, Grubauer nicked the puck back to Adam Larsson behind the net. The Swede sent one of his signature stretch passes through two zones to a waiting Alex Wennberg who danced into the zone and beat Mrazek for the Kraken’s first short-handed goal on the road this season.

The goal brought things even to 2’s before the first intermission and also marked Larsson’s 200^th NHL point.

Not So Neighborly

It was Spokane native Tyler Johnson who broke the tie. He received a cross-slot pass from Taylor Raddysh and wasted no time beating Grubauer short-side. No doubt something that will be a topic of discussion when he and long-time friend Kailer Yamamoto (also from Spokane, of course) reunite for their off-season skates.

That’s a Wrap

Chicago’s fourth goal of the game came seconds after Grubauer made a spectacular save on Joey Anderson, but the rebound was collected by Chicago, and MacKenzie Entwistle worked along the bottom of the goal line before wrapping the puck around the far post to tuck it into the net.

New Look Line Delivers

Jaden Schwartz left the game in the third period with a lower body injury which meant Dave Hakstol needed to change up his forward combinations and they delivered. The team as a whole significantly tilted the ice their way, and Tye Kartye, skating with Jordan Eberle and Beniers, went off on a rush with his center. Beniers fired a pass across the attack zone and Kartye put the puck in the net for the second straight game in a row.

“(Kartye) is a natural goal scorer,” Beniers said. “he's obviously a really hard worker, you know, makes great plays. Super effective on the forecheck big body. And you know, he's just just got that knack.”

By The Numbers

• On the whole, the Kraken generated more offensive volume (58.14-percent of all 5-on-5 shot attempts), but the Blackhawks won the quality war with Seattle earning just 48.36-percent of all expected goals.

• The third period was Seattle’s strongest with an advantage of 78-percent or more in both shot volume and shot quality.

• According to Game Score, Matty Beniers had the third-best performance of all players in the game (2.83) and the tops among Seattle skaters.

• The two line combinations that Beniers centered were the two that came out on the positive side in terms of generating more offense than the Blackhawks.

• Alex Wennberg led all skaters in the game in controlled entries (7) and controlled exits (12).

• Petr Mrazek’s performance was good enough to qualify for his seventh quality start of the season.

• The Kraken’s penalty kill was perfect for the third straight game and in five of their last seven games.

• Chicago created eight scoring chances off turnovers. Seattle had six.

• The Blackhawks have now gone six straight games without a power play goal. With three unsuccessful power plays tonight they are now 0-17 in that span.

Here's a look at our data-driven Instant Analysis from Sportlogiq (click HERE for how to read this graphic):