Blackhawks 4, Kraken 2

Through the first twenty minutes of action at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday night, the Kraken, as a team, managed to out-shoot their former teammate Ryan Donato 4 to 3.

Seattle’s second shot came almost ten-and-a-half minutes into the period.

The Blackhawks posted nine shots in the first period, but the game remained scoreless.

Not sending pucks to the net, passing up opportunities, has been a common gripe for Kraken head coach Lane Lambert this season. We saw that again on a handful of occasions early on in this one.

Then again, watching the first few minutes of the second period, this little social media thought entered my mind …

So far, if you were randomly watching this game out of context and had to guess which of the two teams was playing with a chance to make the playoffs, you’d think it was the #Blackhawks. They’re scoreless in Seattle against the #SeaKraken, early 2nd. #NHL

— Rob Simpson (@simmerpuck) April 5, 2026

And that was with young Blackhawks superstar Connor Bedard not playing at his best. The 20-year-old center seemed discombobulated in the 1st period, before gradually finding his legs in the second. He picked up his 40th assist of the season on the Blackhawks power play goal at 9:15 of the second that opened the scoring.

Donato’s line, 3rd on the Chicago depth chart, with Frank Nazar in the middle and Ryan Greene on the right, was the best on the ice to that point.

Chicago also features former Kraken Andre Burakovsky, who still holds on to pucks too long, and former Seattle Thunderbirds defenseman Kevin Korchinski. He helped the T-Birds win a Western Hockey League title in 2023.

Off a big save at one end from Blackhawks netminder Arvid Soderblom, Chicago rushed up ice on a 3-on-3 and somehow managed to score to make it 2-0. Unfortunately for the Seattle faithful, it came with just 23 seconds remaining in the second period.

Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer may have been a bit disappointed with the coverage on the play. Believe it or not, Chicago almost scored again before the period was over.

At 10:48 of the third, veteran Seattle forward and pending unrestricted free agent Jaden Schwartz made a game of it with his 11th goal of the season. He went hard to the net, fought off a defender and chipped the puck over Soderblom.

Two minutes and twenty seconds later the Blackhawks made it a two-goal game again when 4th-line center Sacha Boisvert scored his first ever NHL goal. His one-timer from the slot beat Grubauer five-hole.

Seventy seconds later Seattle’s Kaapo Kakko ripped home a rebound to make it tight again. Suddenly it was just a 3-2 lead for the visitors.

But that was it. Chicago added an empty-netter. Much of the game brought more of what has become somewhat normal. Lost puck battles, lack of desperation, laissez faire defending.

The Kraken lost to the youngest team in the league, the one with the second worst record in the NHL.

Notable: the Blackhawks have 16 of their own draft picks on their active roster, while the Kraken passed on gaining more draft picks by keeping four unrestricted free agents at the trade deadline, three of them in their 30’s.

Seattle won’t be seeing the Stanley Cup playoffs this spring …

Oh wait, did I bury the lede?! Nope, we knew that already.

This game just crushed any dim hopes or aspirations.

Earlier Kraken:

— It Was An Ugly NHL Night

Earlier Torrent:

— Torrent And Knight; Not A Novelty, It’s A Movement

Earlier Canucks:

— Future Canucks GM Brad Treliving??