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Pure Comedy: Kraken 3, Blackhawks 2 SO

Posted on by Shepard Price

The Chicago Blackhawks, for the first time this season, lost a shootout as the Seattle Kraken won 3-2 on Monday evening. The loss ended the Blackhawks’ four-game winning streak as well as Seattle’s nine-game losing streak.

The first period passed without a goal, although there were two Blackhawks penalties and a fight in the first 20 minutes, with Chicago earning a power play due to the fight between Mike Hardman and Will Borgen.

It took the penalty kill to get the first shot on goal for the Blackhawks in the game, as they went more than four minutes without one to start. Although, with two penalties in the first 10 minutes (both relatively soft calls), it’s understandable that the offense wasn’t awake to start.

The Blackhawks’ first power play was disappointing, as Erik Gustafsson stepped offside three seconds in and the rest of the power play sort of just … passed.

It took the second period for the Blackhawks to open the scoring, as Gustafsson made a terrific defensive stop, grabbed the puck and made a stretch pass to Dominik Kubalik, who streaked into the offensive zone on a breakaway and scored.

Later in the second period, Vince Dunn tied the game at one in his 300th career game, deflecting the puck off of Riley Stillman and into the net.

Dunn took a penalty following his goal, and the Blackhawks were finally able to capitalize on a power-play opportunity, as Brandon Hagel scored off a rebound from Kubalik, with the puck heading toward the net initially off a shot by Patrick Kane.

The Blackhawks drew another power-play opportunity immediately after the Hagel goal but were unable to capitalize.

Seattle scored early in the third period as Caleb Jones collided with Marc-Andre Fleury, removing his ability to make a save, and Ryan Donato scored on a rebound.

Later in the third, the Blackhawks went back to the penalty kill for the first time since the first period as Jones headed to the box for interference, but the Blackhawks were able to come up with the kill.

Seattle then earned a penalty shot when Calvin de Haan tripped Jared McCann — the goals leader for the Kraken. It was the expansion Karken’s first ever penalty shot. Fleury made the save on McCann.

Tied 2-2, the game headed to overtime and then the shootout, as the Kraken dominated 3-on-3 play. The Kraken won in the shootout as Ryan Donato put the puck in the net for the second time in the contest and Joonas Donskoi scored for the first time this season.

Notes

  • More teams should feature a cool guitar version of the Star-Spangled Banner* (*not the Blackhawks)
  • The penalty kill did well through the first part of the game, as nothing else did. The turning point was Gustafsson’s defensive play and Kubalik’s goal, as the team turned the second period around from there, spending much of the remaining middle frame on the power play.
  • At 5-on-5 play, the Blackhawks generated just 11 shots with 24 against, with 0.86 expected goals to 2.43 against and were outscored 2-1. In other words, if not for the special teams killing it on Tuesday, the Blackhawks would not have received a point in the standings.
  • Speaking of the special teams, the penalty kill generated four shots to eight against in six minutes, although there were four high-danger chances against. Fleury was able to keep the Blackhawks alive, facing 1.19 expected goals on the penalty kill. On the power play, the Blackhawks had 1.32 expected goals and 11 shots in 9:17, including Hagel’s goal.
  • Throughout much of the game, it seemed like the only player on ice for the Blackhawks was Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 31 saves in regulation and added four more in overtime. He had no support in the shootout and that led to the loss, which could have come much sooner if not for his efforts. Fleury faced 4.14 expected goals against on Tuesday and made 13 saves on 14 high-danger shots.
  • Caleb Jones had a horrible, no good, very bad day, including the fact he directly lead to the Kraken’s second goal and took a penalty later in the third period. In 12:09 at 5-on-5, Jones was on ice for an expected goal share of 37.61 (although no one was great).
  • The second period was the only good period of the game for the Blackhawks and they were still outshot 10-9 in the period at 5-on-5. The first period was boring, but worse for the Blackhawks and the third period saw the Blackhawks give away their lead early and get just one shot at 5-on-5.
  • The Blackhawks are now 11-5-2 when scoring first and 3-1 in the shootout. Chicago entered this game 3-0 in shootouts./

Game Charts

Three stars

  1. Ryan Donato (SEA) — 1 G, shootout goal
  2. Marc-Andre Fleury (CHI) — 4.14 expected goals against, .944 save percentage
  3. Dominik Kubalik (CHI) — 1 G, 1 A

What’s next

The Blackhawks head home for a game against the Minnesota Wild, currently second in the Central division by points percentage, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Talking Points