The Chicago Blackhawks came into Thursday night’s contest having dropped their previous two games. They were not able to muster more than two goals for themselves, while allowing four against both games. Arvid Soderblom got the start in net versus the Seattle Kraken, looking to rebound from an abysmal performance versus Washington.
First period
The game got off to a rough start for the Blackhawks, as, just over three minutes in, the Kraken would light the lamp first. Kailer Yamamoto took the puck in the neutral zone, skated in and fired a shot glove side of Soderblom, 1–0 Kraken. It was an ugly goal to give up, and that would not be nearly the end of those goals in this game. After some back and forth, late in the period, Yamamoto would strike again. Vince Dunn put the puck on net, which Soderblom fought off. He lost the puck completely, and it came down right at the feet of Yamamoto, 2–0 Kraken. The period ended with the Kraken leading by two.
Second period
The Blackhawks looked like they might claw their way back into the game early in the second. At almost the same time stamp as Yamamoto’s first, Taylor Raddysh would get the Blackhawks into the game. Anthony Beauvillier stole the puck at the blue line, and got it down to Raddysh, who snapped it on net, 2–1 Seattle.
raddy 🎯 pic.twitter.com/LpdOOMXbIo
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 15, 2023
Unfortunately, that would be the end of the excitement for Blackhawks fans in this one. Seattle got their two-goal lead back just 1:20 later. Oliver Bjorkstrand threw the puck across the ice. It went off of Jason Dickinson’s skate and into the back of the net, 3–1 Seattle. Then, 10 minutes later, Will Borgen took a shot from the point. Tye Kartye was right in front and redirected the puck home, 4–1 Seattle. It only took three minutes for them to add to that lead. Bjorkstrand got the puck over to Yanni Gourde, who put it back across to Eeli Tolvanen. He tapped the puck home to put the Kraken up 5–1.
Third period
Like a broken record, at the 3:07 mark of the period, yet another goal found the back of the Chicago net. The Blackhawks gave up the power play to the Kraken on a Connor Murphy high stick. The Kraken took advantage, with Jared McCann bombing a slap shot from just outside the left circle, making the score 6–1 Kraken. To add insult to injury, and to make the extra point, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare would score 21 seconds later. He got the puck from behind the net on a feed from Devin Shore and tucked it past Soderblom, 7–1 Kraken.
Petr Mrazek replaced Soderblom for the rest of the game, but it did not make any difference, as the damage had already been done, making this a 7–1 Seattle victory.
Analysis
This game was just a masterclass in how not to play hockey. Watching every goal that was scored, something was done wrong by a Blackhawk on the ice. Soderblom was horrid, as he has been in his last few starts. His save percentage and goals allowed are higher than even last year, and some fans would argue that was an even worse team than this year’s version. This whole team did not play well, though, as evidenced by the impact card for each player.
#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Chicago Blackhawks on 2023-12-14:#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/G88mg18ea4
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) December 15, 2023
Filip Roos looked lost on the last goal the Kraken scored, Dickinson should not have kicked the puck toward his own net, but above all else, you cannot let the other team screen your goalie for the entirety of the game and expect to win hockey games. He may have looked like Swiss cheese in this game, but the team in front of him could have done a lot more to help him out.
The Blackhawks are back in action on Sunday afternoon against the Vancouver Canucks. That game will be at 2 p.m. CST on NHL Network and NBC Sports Chicago.