After a dramatic comeback with three goals in the third period to beat the Eastern Conference leaders, the Chicago Blackhawks are looking to keep their momentum going when they face the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. A win would give them their first three-game winning streak of the season.
Chicago won back-to-back games for only the second time this season, following a 5-3 home win over the New York Islanders with a 3-2 victory against the Washington Capitals.
“It’s great because we’ve been in spots where we’ve been up a couple goals and end up losing,” said 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 scored the game-winner with 2:18 left after driving the goal line from the right side. Teuvo Teravainen assisted on the goal, marking his third assist of the night and his second consecutive three-point game. Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen credits Teravainen’s recent success to his engagement and fundamentals.
“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.”
On the other hand, Seattle has been struggling, especially on offense. The Kraken lost three of four games on their homestand against Eastern Conference teams.
Excluding a 5-1 win against the Boston Bruins on December 12, Seattle was outscored 10-2 in three losses, with the last two being 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,” said Seattle coach Dan Bylsma after a 3-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
Seattle has not scored in the last five periods, including a 5-1 loss to Tampa Bay. Matty Beniers, the Kraken’s center, has been in a scoring slump since November 14. Beniers, who was named the Calder Trophy winner as Rookie of the Year in 2022-23, has four goals and 13 assists in 33 games this season.
“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,” said Beniers. “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.”
In an effort to shake things up, Seattle acquired forward Kaapo Kakko from the New York Rangers on Wednesday in exchange for defenseman Will Borgen and draft picks in the 2025 NHL Draft. Kakko, 23, has four goals, 10 assists, and a plus-9 rating in 30 games this season.
Since being drafted second overall by the Rangers in 2019, he has 61 goals, 70 assists, and 80 penalty minutes in 330 regular-season games.
