Kraken 3, Blackhawks 2

Hockey is a game of mistakes and more often than not outcomes are determined by which team capitalizes on more of them. The Kraken made one very early in the second period. A poor line change led to a 3-on-1 rush for the Blackhawks with Tyler Bertuzzi, just back from a brief absence with an upper-body injury, finishing off a lovely set of passes.

He beat Seattle goalie Joey Daccord, getting his second start in net since returning from injury, to open the scoring in the second stanza’s first minute.

It was Bertuzzi’s ninth point over his last five games played.

He continued his red hot play ten minutes later while racing to a puck in the right wing corner of the Kraken zone against big Seattle D-man Jamie Oleksiak, Bertuzzi miraculously swiped at the puck with one-hand on his stick, propelling it to the front of the net past two more very surprised Kraken, finding teammate Teuvo Teravainen for an easy snipe.

The United Center crowd enjoyed the 2-0 lead.

The Blackhawks were reversing a trend. Entering the game, the Kraken’s best period for goal differential had been the 2nd, while for Chicago it had been their worst.

They outshot the Kraken 13-5 in the period and dominated puck possession. Shot attempts were 28-14 for Chicago.

Seattle looked like a different team starting the third. They were more crisp, and even though their second power play of the game failed early in the stanza, with Matty Beniers fanning on a one-timer with what would have been their best scoring opportunity, the momentum began to swing.

At 5:09, a point shot from D-man Brandon Montour bounced off rookie Oscar Fisker-Molgaard’s pants, then off Tye Kartye’s pants, and into the Chicago net. The Kraken were on the board and Fisker-Molgaard has his first NHL point in his first NHL game.

Two-minutes and four-seconds later, Shane Wright deflected a Ryker Evans point shot past Blackhawks goalie Spencer Knight and we had a brand new hockey game.

Which brings us back to mistakes. Young burgeoning Blackhawks superstar Connor Bedard made an unusual one at 15:44 of the final period. Upset that he didn’t get a call against Seattle while on a partial breakaway, he complained to the referee so vehemently that he earned a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Seattle scored with two seconds remaining on the power play to take their first lead of the game.

That’s how it ended, 3-2 for the visitors.

The Kraken are off Friday before facing a very difficult back-to-back situation on the weekend. They play the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Saturday night before taking on the New York Islanders on Sunday afternoon.

NOTES:

Former Kraken former Andre Burakovksy left the game late in the first period after a check to his head from Seattle D-man Ryan Lindgren. Burakovsky was leaning over for a puck when Lindgren hit him with a shoulder check. There was no penalty on the play.
Former Seattle forward Ryan Donato played 16:30, had one shot on goal, a giveaway, a takeaway, and won 54% of his face-offs.

Earlier Kraken:

— Kraken Lose 4-2 To ‘Kraken East’; New Challenge Awaits

Seattle Torrent:

— Kraken Tenants For Now; Torrent Fired Up

Of interest from the Canucks:

— Canucks Desperation; History Repeats Itself