3 Takeaways From Blackhawks’ 3-2 Loss to the Kraken

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The Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Seattle Kraken at the United Center on Thursday, Nov. 20. This was the second of three matchups between these two clubs; the first of which saw the Kraken defeated the Hawks 3-1 on Nov. 3 in Seattle. The Blackhawks were looking for revenge, and they almost had it with a 2-0 lead at the end of a dominant second period. But an uncharacteristically sluggish third period, and some questionable non-calls, gave the Kraken a chance to battle back. Seattle scored three unanswered goals in the final frame to take home a 3-2 win. Let’s get to some takeaways.

Bertuzzi’s Back!

After a relatively uneventful first period, the Blackhawks came out flying in the second frame. Tyler Bertuzzi led the charge, opening up the scoring just 43 seconds into the period. He had sat out the last two games with an undisclosed injury, and the Blackhawks were certainly happy to have him back.

It was a lovely tic-tac-toe play between Frank Nazar, Teuvo Teravainen and then Bertuzzi for the finish. This was Bertuzzi’s 10th goal of the season, to put him in second place on the team behind Connor Bedard (13 goals).

A little later in the frame, the Blackhawks were in the offensive zone for a VERY long time. Bertuzzi was in his usual spot in front of the net, and drew a tripping penalty from none other than the Kraken’s netminder Joey Daccord. On the ensuing power play, Bertuzzi provided the primary assist for a goal by Teravainen.

Yes, you saw that correctly! Bertuzzi made a one-handed cross-ice pass while reaching around a Kraken player to connect with Teravainen. It was quite the effort. Defenseman Artyom Levshunov was credited with the secondary assist, his 11th helper on the season.

All in all, Bertuzzi finished the night with a goal, an assist and drew two penalties in 20:13 minutes of ice time. “I thought he was really good,” said head coach Jeff Blashill of Bertuzzi’s return. “You know, Bert’s Bert. He wins pucks, he competes extremely hard. I thought he did a good job coming back. Really good.”

Blackhawks’ Dominant Periods Flip-Flopped

The Blackhawks have trended towards struggling in the second period and then dominating in the third. But it was the other way around on this night. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Blackhawks had one of their best second frames of the season. Beyond the aforementioned two goals, they led 14-6 in shots on goal, 28-14 in shot attempts, 14-2 in scoring chances, and 5-2 in high-danger chances.

But for some reason they didn’t bring their usual killer instinct into the third period. The Kraken scored three unanswered goals, plus led 12-3 in shots, 19-5 in shot attempts, 11-2 in scoring chances and 6-2 in high-danger chances.

Related – Kraken’s Three Goal Period Leads to 3-2 Win Over Blackhawks

It was an unusual turn of events, for sure. Coach Blashill described what he felt was the difference.

I thought in the second we were excellent. Some of this is like, who can half-court who? And we did it to them. And then in the third, I just think we didn’t, we defended too much. And so because of that, they kind of half-courted us, and we didn’t defend well enough. So then we couldn’t get anything going offensively at all.

He also didn’t mince words when discussing the first period and the overall effort in this contest.

Too many guys that weren’t ready. I talk all the time that it’s an everyday league, and we just had too many guys that weren’t ready to compete and play hard hockey. We told them it wasn’t going to be an easy night. Too many guys went out there and acted like it was the flow drill that we ran in the pre-game skate.

It certainly looked like the Blackhawks just couldn’t find their groove in the third period. It’s a learning opportunity for this young group that they couldn’t finish off the game, and that they let this one get away. But on another note, the referees certainly didn’t help matters.

Bedard’s Unsportsmanlike Controversy

With about 4:35 minutes to go in the game, Bedard stole the puck and had a breakaway chance. He felt he should have received a hooking call on the play. When it wasn’t called, he was irate with the referees, and it led to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

The Kraken scored on the ensuing power play, which gave them the 3-2 lead that eventually led to the win. Obviously, this left a sour taste in the mouths of the Blackhawks. Blashill was clearly NOT happy with the referees regarding the non-call on the Kraken and then the unsportsmanlike penalty on Bedard.

Well it’s a penalty. When you don’t have position on a guy and you put you stick on there and you hit his glove, which he did. Yes, he got the stick after, but the first contact is on his glove. That’s a penalty. That’s a penalty.

And I don’t know what was said, but it better have been really, really, really, really personal (for the ref) to be that sensitive about it. Because you’re deciding games.

That is not a typo. Blashill said “really” four times. For his part, Bedard took full responsibility after the game. “I obviously was in the moment. But I gotta control my emotions in a better way. I put our team in a vulnerable spot there.”

Bedard acknowledged that it was a learning moment for him. He said he needed to have a better response there and not let it happen again.

Connor Bedard Chicago Blackhawks Brandon Montour Seattle Kraken
Chicago Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard admitted he let his emotions get the best of him when he felt the opponent should’ve received a penalty on his breakaway chance. (Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images)

To add insult to injury, forward Andre Burakovsky was also the recipient of a bad hit in the first period by Kraken defenseman Ryan Lindgren. Looking at the replay, it was a brutal hit to the head. Coach Blashill said Burakovsky wouldn’t play in the matchup against the Buffalo Sabres the next night (Nov. 22). We’ll know more in the coming days of the seriousness of the injury. Blashill also felt this should have been a penalty, especially since Burakovsky didn’t even have the puck at the time of the hit.

The Blackhawks endured a tough and controversial loss. But the show must go on. They won’t have much time to dwell on things, as they head to Buffalo to take on the Sabres the very next day (Friday, Nov. 21).

Related – Blackhawks Have Great Opportunity With 8-Game Homestand

Hopefully they can put this game behind them and regroup moving forward.

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