I Chicago Blackhawks entered Thursday night’s game looking for its third straight win. With Seattle Kraken in town, they should fancy their chances with the way they have been playing recently.
Before the game started, Chicago honored Blackhawks star Jeremy Roenick by inducting him into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He spoke in the atrium earlier in the day, blew the horn before the puck drop, and played a video tribute during the first TV closing.
The Blackhawks know how to honor a legend and Roenick certainly is. To say she had an amazing emotional night would be an understatement.
In the first half, neither team scored a goal but it was the 20 minutes the Hawks had this season. Too many dangerous possibilities he would not allow. More times with that level of play will usually lead to more goals.
In the second half, the Hawks finally scored. At 10:54 into the middle frame, Ilya Mikheyev scored for his third straight game. Once again, Teuvo Teravainen came out with help as the two continued to build chemistry.
Going up into the third is always how you want things to be. However, blowing the game in the final frame has been a problem for the Blackhawks this season so they were looking to overcome this issue again.
Amazingly, Teuvo Teravainen found Ilya Mikheyev again for his second goal of the game at 6:06 of the final frame. This was a great snipe that deserves to be on the highlight reels.
Seattle didn’t agree there. At 11:26 of the final period, Ryker Evans scored to put the Kraken on the board. With luck, that could be Seattle scoring.
Nolan Allan added his first NHL goal at 15:11 and the Hawks held on for a 3-1 win. It is the first time the Hawks have won three in a row during the Connor Bedard era.
The last time they did that was in the last three games of Patrick Kane’s Blackhawks career (February 2023). This is a moment to feel good for a team that has been starving for good form in the last few weeks.
It is also the first time that Connor Bedard has been part of a three game winning streak in the NHL. He needs to experience victory so this is good for his development.
“It should be a good team building”. Interim coach Anders Sorensen said when asked about the three wins in a row. “They’ve got to feel good tonight and we’ll be back tomorrow, right? But it was a big step for a young team and we all feel good about it now and get back to work tomorrow.”
Anders Sorensen knows this is a milestone for this young team but it won’t be the end of it. Whether they win or lose their next game is not as important as developing and implementing a winning process.
“This is the first since I’ve been here, it’s a good feeling”. Captain Nick Foligno said it’s three wins in a row. “It’s an honor for the guys to believe in what we’re trying to do here and to know that we have a lot to give and we expect more from us. I think we’re happy with the way we’re going with Anders here.”
Foligno has been in incredible winning situations during his NHL career but not so much with the Hawks. Following this victory for Kraken, it’s clear that he enjoyed his three wins in a row.
The Blackhawks have now completed the “pre-Christmas” portion of their schedule. There are still two games left before the official break for the Hawks. They have road tilts against the Calgary Flames (Saturday) and the Minnesota Wild (Monday) before a few days out.
There are different teams under coach Sorensen but the strong system is also helping them. This win could be a sign of things to come as this team continues to improve.
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