Having played the Carolina Hurricanes just a week and a half ago in the Windy City, the Chicago Blackhawks went down to Carolina to take them on again on Thursday night. The Blackhawks looked to string together two wins in a row for the first time in quite a while, having just defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4–1 on Tuesday night. The whole team had a strong game in that winning effort, and looked to continue that on to Carolina. Arvid Soderblom got the start in net again with Colton Dach coming into the lineup for Pat Maroon. Nolan Allan took the spot of Ethan Del Mastro on defense in the one lineup change defensively.
First period
This game started off very slowly, with neither team getting much going in the early part of the game. With just under four minutes left in the frame, and the Blackhawks on the power play, the shots were 5–0 Carolina. Then, the Hurricanes got something going. The Blackhawks attempted to keep the puck in the offensive zone, but the Hurricanes fought to push the puck out. They ended up in a 2-on-1 following a Philipp Kurashev turnover, even with Lukas Reichel pushing to get back to help. The puck found its way to Seth Jarvis, who buried the goal past Arvid Soderblom, 1–0 Carolina. Dach almost had one back for the Blackhawks on a clearing attempt by Pyotr Kochetkov, but the netminder managed to dive back and stop the puck from way out of position following his miscue.
With 1:22 left in the frame, the Blackhawks would get even. Nick Foligno passed from just inside the zone to a streaking Ilya Mikheyev, who buried a snap shot right under the arm of Kochetkov, knotting things up 1–1 heading into the intermission.
🚨Ilya equalizer🚨 pic.twitter.com/FI1lmplAY0
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 31, 2025
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Second period
It took a little less time in the second, but the Hurricanes got on the board. The newest member of the team, Mikko Rantanen, took a pass and managed to squeak a puck through the five hole of Soderblom, 2–1 Hurricanes. That is definitely one that the Blackhawks would like to have had back, as a poor offensive zone read by Frank Nazar resulted in the counterattack for the Canes. Just over a minute later, the Hurricanes had a couple of chances back to back. Jackson Blake had a shot in tight go off the crossbar and out. That puck found its way to Jaccob Slavin, who buried it to make the score 3–1 Hurricanes. It would go to the second intermission with Carolina holding onto that two-goal lead.
Third period
The Hurricanes once again started off with some good chances in the third. They had a few shots in a row saved by Soderblom, with the puck finally finding its way to Seth Jones. He saw Connor Bedard streaking up the wing and found him with a pass. Bedard was in all alone and fired the puck past Kochetkov, getting things back to a one-goal game.
we want 🫵you🫵 to watch this Bedsy goal pic.twitter.com/HaIDkSVdaP
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 31, 2025
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Unfortunately, the Blackhawks were unable to get anything else going, and the Hurricanes held on to win 3–2 in Raleigh.
Analysis
The Blackhawks struggled to get things going against Carolina. They played decent defense, created some giveaways and got a couple of power plays to work with, but could not get many shots on goal. It is always deflating to give up shorthanded goals, especially when it is the first goal of the game. Soderblom surely would have liked to have Rantanen’s first goal as a Hurricane back, as that puck had no business getting to the back of the net. Mikheyev and Bedard were able to get their chances on the breakaway. That is not a good source of goals normally, so in some ways they were lucky to get the two goals they had.
The Blackhawks’ next game is on Saturday in Sunrise against the Florida Panthers. That game will be on ABC and ESPN+ at 12 p.m. CST.