Riding a three-game win streak, the Blackhawks took on the Seattle Kraken at United Center, skating past the Kraken for a 3-1 victory on Thursday, December 19th. Ilya Mikheyev has been on fire lately, scoring four goals in the past three games, and Nolan Allan picked up his first NHL career goal to help Chicago secure the two points. Ryker Evans scored the lone goal for the Kraken to prevent getting shutout. This had been the third straight loss for Seattle after they dominated the Boston Bruins 5-1 on December 12th. To start the win streak, they defeated the New York Islanders 5-3, then took on the Washington Capitals, winning 3-2. Prior to this thrilling win streak, the Blackhawks had lost two games straight after an amazing 2-1 victory where they dominated the New York Rangers. The Blackhawks are going for a fourth straight win when they head to Calgary on Saturday, and the Kraken will head to Vegas on Saturday to take on the Golden Knights.
Blackhawks Lineup:
Foligno - Bedard - Donato
Hall - Nazar - Bertuzzi
Teravainen - Dickinson - Mikheyev
Maroon - Reichel - Anderson
Vlasic - Crevier
Allan - Murphy
Korchinski - Brodie
Soderblom
Mrazek
Kraken Lineup:
Schwartz - Stephenson - Burakovsky
McCann - Beniers - Kakko
Tolvanen - Wright - Bjorkstrand
Kartye - Gourde - Tanev
Dunn - Larsson
Oleksiak - Montour
Evans - Mahura
Daccord
Grubauer
Ilya Mikheyev got the party started after a scoreless first period at 9:06 of the second when a shot deflected in past Joey Daccord off his left knee. Teuvo Teravainen, who had been in the right circle, shot to the front of the net, the puck then bounced in off Mikheyev.
Finding the back of the net once more, Ilya Mikheyev gave the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead early into the third period at 13:55. He scored on a wrist shot from in between the circles after receiving a pass from Teuvo Teravainen in the high slot, who originally took a pass from Tyler Bertuzzi as he was skating down to Seattle's zone, fanning over the puck, then passing it over to Mikheyev for the second Chicago tally. At 8:34 of the third, Ryker Evans scored his fourth goal of the season to avoid a shutout and bring the Kraken within 2-1. He took a cross-ice pass from Oliver Bjorkstrand, who received the puck from Brandon Montour, and Evans moved in from his position at the left point, scoring from the bottom of the left circle with a snap shot. Nolan Allan struck his first NHL career goal with 4:49 left of regulation when he took a cross-ice pass from Ryan Donato, scoring from the left circle with a snap shot for the 3-1 final.
Ilya Mikheyev on his line and the chemistry with the team: "Our line plays simple hockey sometimes, but I think that's what we need right now. (Jason Dickinson) has great speed, and everybody helps each other. Teuvo's a smart guy and he finds us, for sure," - "If everybody plays in the same structure, the same page, it doesn't matter which line you play on because everybody is playing almost the same."
Nolan Allan on his 1st NHL goal, hitting the post in the first period, and being with the team: "It was kind of a big goal, you know, it gave us a little bit of a cushion there, so yeah, it was just a fun game to be a part of and a super exciting moment. - I hit the post there and I thought to myself, I'm never going to get that opportunity again, so it was nice to get one today. Kind of weird how that works," - "It's been good. Just with the group we have here, we have a lot of veteran guys and then we have a mix of young guys too, so I think it's a good mix. The young guys are fun to hang around, and it's good to learn from the older guys, kind of watch what they do day in and day out, and kind of teach you the ins and outs of the league."
Notes:
- Arvid Soderblom made a total of 27 saves for Chicago.
- Teuvo Teravainen picked up a pair of assists, and Ilya Mikheyev has four goals in the past three games. ...Teravainen, who notched five assists since Tuesday (3-2 win against Washington) has become the 10th different Blackhawks skater in history to assist on five consecutive team goals, as well as the first since Patrick Sharp (5 - January 30-February 6, 2015). The only Hawks player to push the streak past five to six is Bobby Hull (November 3-6, 1968).
- This win streak is the first of at least three games for the Blackhawks since February 17-25, 2023, when they recorded a five-game win streak.
- Joey Daccord made a total of 21 saves for Seattle.
- Kaapo Kakko, who had been acquired in a trade from the New York Rangers on Wednesday, had two shots in his Kraken debut.
- Yanni Gourde made his return to the lineup after missing three games due to a lower-body injury. In the first period of this game, he saved a goal when he blocked Joey Anderson's shot in front of the net.
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