The Chicago Blackhawks were 20 minutes away from extending their season-long point streak to seven games on Thursday night.
But the Seattle Kraken swiftly spoiled those plans, as they rallied from a 2-0 deficit to score three unanswered goals in the third period and steal two points from the Blackhawks at the United Center.
With the game tied 2-2 in the final minutes, Connor Bedard raced into the offensive zone on a partial breakaway attempt. Bedard appeared to be slashed on the hands by Kraken defenseman Ryan Lindgren, but the officials didn’t call a penalty and let play continue. The 20-year-old superstar turned around in disbelief and began barking at the officials, which resulted in a unsportsmanlike conduct minor.
Seattle proceeded to pot the game-winning goal on the ensuing power play, and to add insult to injury, it occurred with only two seconds remaining on Bedard’s penalty. After the game, head coach Jeff Blashill didn’t hold back his feelings on the non-call during Bedard’s breakaway.
“It’s a penalty,” Blashill said bluntly during his postgame media session. “When you don’t have position on a guy, and you put your stick in there and you hit his glove — yes, he got the stick after — but the first contact was on his glove. It’s a penalty. I don’t know what [Bedard] said, but it better have been really, really, personal to be that sensitive about it, because you’re deciding games.”
Bedard took responsibility for letting his emotions get the better of him with the game on the line. He recognized that he had put his team in a lousy position, even if the officials had made an incorrect call on the play.
“I’ve got to control my emotions in a better way,” Bedard said. “I put our team in a vulnerable spot there, so just got to be better… It’s a competitive game. Everyone is going to get frustrated. But just knowing [the] time and place. It’s something that ultimately lost us the game.”
Here are the highlights and key moments from the Blackhawks’ frustrating 3-2 loss to Seattle, which put an end to their six-game point streak.
FIRST PERIOD
For the second straight game at the United Center, there wasn’t much action for either side in the opening 20 minutes. Both teams were a little sleepy getting out of the gates on Thursday.
One of the top moments of the period came from Bedard, who was clearly still feeling himself after recording his second hat trick of the season in his last time out. The top line of Bedard, Ryan Greene, and Andre Burakovsky put together a strong shift in the offensive zone, and then Bedard put a magical spin move on Brandon Montour to create separation and rifle a shot on net. Greene was there to scoop up the loose puck moments later, but Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord came up with the save. Incredible puck protection and creativity shown from Bedard.
There weren’t many notable moments for the remainder of the frame, but there was a noteworthy former Stanley Cup champion in attendance at the UC on Thursday. Michal Handzus, a member of the 2013 Blackhawks squad, was shown on the Jumbotron during a TV timeout!
A scary moment occurred late in the period. With the Blackhawks on the power play, Burakovsky skated into the zone and caught an inadvertent hit from Lindgren up high. Lindgren appeared to catch Burakovsky, who didn’t have possession of the puck, with a shoulder-check to the head, and the Swedish forward immediately headed into the dressing room.
The Blackhawks would rule Burakovsky out for the remainder of the contest during the intermission, and Blashill already confirmed that he won’t play on Friday against the Buffalo Sabres.
SECOND PERIOD
Chicago seemed to come out of the intermission with some added intensity following the hit to Burakovsky. Less than one minute into the second period, Tyler Bertuzzi, who was back in the lineup after missing the past two games, capped off a beautiful passing play on a 3-on-1 rush for his 10th goal of the season.
Credit to Alex Vlasic for making it all happen with a splendid stretch pass from the defensive zone. Frank Nazar and Teuvo Teravainen made terrific feeds on the play, too. Nazar extended his point streak to three games with the secondary assist.
Frank Nazar➡️Teuvo Teravainen➡️Tyler Bertuzzi🚨
Bertuzzi scores his 10th goal of the season in his return to the lineup to put the #Blackhawks ahead 1-0! Beautiful passes from Nazar & Turbo on a 3-on-1 rush. Nazar extends his point streak to 3 games.pic.twitter.com/g8PH38OBj8
— Talkin’ Hawkey (@TalkinHawkey) November 21, 2025
The Blackhawks kept their foot on the pedal throughout the period, and they nearly doubled their lead on a breakaway attempt from defenseman Sam Rinzel on the power play. Rinzel used his wheels to streak around several Seattle defenders, but Daccord’s pads stopped his backhanded shot.
From earlier: Sam Rinzel created a breakaway by weaving through the neutral zone without the puck and receiving a return pass from Matt Grzelcyk to spring loose pic.twitter.com/ujFUFfhG5z
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) November 21, 2025
Just over 30 seconds later, the Blackhawks ended up cashing in on the man advantage to extend their lead to 2-0. Bertuzzi made an unreal play to whack the puck across the crease with one hand, and Teravainen was in perfect position to put home his fifth goal of the season. Both Bertuzzi and Teravainen picked up their second points of the night.
Artyom Levshunov➡️Tyler Bertuzzi➡️Teuvo Teravainen🚨
Bertuzzi makes an excellent play to knock the puck over to Teravainen to make it 2-0 #Blackhawks! Teravainen with his 5th goal of the season & 2nd point of the game. Bertuzzi also gets his 2nd point.pic.twitter.com/BVq23Sf0ad
— Talkin’ Hawkey (@TalkinHawkey) November 21, 2025
Bertuzzi was everywhere in the second period, and he made another dazzling pass just a few minutes later to set up Bedard for a quality scoring chance. In the period, Bertuzzi scored a goal, added an assist, and drew two penalties. He nearly had a third point on this play.
The second stanza has given the Blackhawks fits all year, but that wasn’t the case on Tuesday. Chicago led 25-9 in shot attempts, 12-3 in shots on goal, 11-1 (!) in scoring chances, and 4-1 in high danger chances in the period. They were in complete control of the game heading into the third.
THIRD PERIOD
The final frame started on the wrong foot, as Ilya Mikheyev was whistled for hooking just over two minutes in. While the Blackhawks successfully killed off the penalty, that gave the Kraken the momentum they needed to get right back into the contest.
After the officials waived off an icing call, Artyom Levshunov coughed the puck up with a shoddy pass to Matt Grzelcyk in the defensive zone from behind the net. The puck was battled for on the wall, and the Kraken emerged with possession out of the skirmish. Then, Brandon Montour fired a shot from the point, which Tye Kartye deflected past Spencer Knight to cut the Blackhawks’ lead to 2-1.
Seattle had the Hawks on their heels after that point, and it didn’t take long for them to strike again and even up the score. Once again, a shaky sequence in the defensive zone led to an extended shift for the visitors, and Shane Wright redirected Ryker Evans’ shot from the blue line to tie the game 2-2. All of a sudden, the Blackhawks’ lead was gone in the blink of an eye.
Here’s the key moment of the game, where Bedard was whacked on the hands by Lindgren on a partial breakaway attempt, only for the zebras to keep their lips sealed on the whistle. While it would have been somewhat reasonable to let the play continue, it’s pretty ridiculous to send Bedard to the sin bin here. With such little time left on the clock, this was an unjustified penalty to be thrown at the Blackhawks.
Here was Blashill’s reaction on the bench, as he was clearly NOT thrilled with the decision made by the officials.
Because of course, the Kraken converted on their power-play chance to grab the 3-2 lead with 2:18 to go. Jaden Schwartz knocked home Montour’s centering pass from right out on top of the crease. Three unanswered goals for Seattle.
After all the great work done by the Blackhawks in the first two periods, everything came crashing down in the third. It’s a disappointing way to cap off the four-game homestand, as they let a prime-time chance to pick up another two points slip out of their grasp.
While the controversial penalty and non-penalty calls late in the game take center stage, the Blackhawks also played horrendously in the third period. Their play late in games this year has been a bright spot, but they were far too passive down the stretch on Tuesday. Seattle led 19-5 in shot attempts, 12-3 in shots on goal, 11-2 in scoring chances, and 6-2 in high-danger chances in the frame. Blashill’s bunch deserved what they got with the way they played over the final 20 minutes.
With the loss, the Blackhawks fall to 10-6-4 on the season. They’re back in action tomorrow night in Buffalo against the Sabres.
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