RECAP: Blackhawks Can’t Hold Early Lead in Loss to Kraken

CHICAGO – Shane Wright scored two goals for the Seattle Kraken, who rallied from two goals down to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-2 at United Center on Tuesday.

Adam Larsson had a goal and two assists, and Matty Beniers had a goal and an assist for the Kraken (30-34-5), who are 3-0-1 in their past four games. Joey Daccord made 27 saves. They trail the St. Louis blues by 10 points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

“I think a little bit in the first period, especially the first five, six, seven minutes, we were stuck in mud a little bit,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said. “There were some bounces, certainly, that contributed to that, but I think Chicago came pretty hard. We had to weather the storm.”

Tyler Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist, and Spencer Knight made 24 saves for the Blackhawks (20-39-9), who have lost five in a row (0-4-1).

“It’s probably the worst it’s been all year, to be honest with you,” defenseman Alex Vlasic said of team morale. “I think we’re trying to take steps as a group almost at game 70. It feels like we’re taking one step forward, one step back. We’re not really making any progress as a team. If we do, we kind of shoot ourselves in the foot. So it’s kind of frustrating to do the same thing over and over again for the whole year.”

That was in contrast to the feeling before the game, according to Chicago interim coach Anders Sorensen.

“Yeah, honestly, I think before the game we felt we were in a pretty good spot,” he said. “Then obviously when things don’t go your way, it starts snowballing. Back-to-back tough losses on the scoreboard (a 6-2 loss at Vancouver on Saturday), and that’s a recipe for low morale. But we’re going to get back at it here. We have a lot of young guys and let’s bring the energy tomorrow, talk about it and move on.”

Connor Bedard’s power-play goal gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 3:46 of the first period. Bedard’s wrist shot from the bottom of the left face-off circle deflected into the net off Larsson.

Bertuzzi’s first goal since Jan. 20 put Chicago up 2-0 at 17:13. Bertuzzi was in front of the net when he tipped in Vlasic’s shot from the left point, ending a 20-game goal drought.

Larsson brought the Kraken to within 2-1 at 17:44, when he took a pass from Beniers from the goal line and fired a one-timer from the right circle.

Jordan Eberle tied the game at 5:55 of the second period. Chandler Stephenson passed the puck into the slot from behind the net to Eberle, who scored while falling to one knee. With the assist, Stephenson extended his point streak to six games (one goal, six assists).

Seattle took a 3-2 lead 26 seconds later on Jared McCann’s goal from the left circle after he took a pass in the neutral zone from Andre Burakovsky and carried the puck into the offensive zone.

Beniers made it 4-2 at 12:53, when he took a cross-ice pass from Larsson and scored on a one-timer from the right circle.

“He was great tonight,” Beniers said of Larsson. “He was so confident with the puck and making great plays. He was awesome all night, and that’s when we’re at our best, when our ‘D’ are jumping in the play and making plays and getting active.”

Wright’s rebound goal from in front of the net pushed the lead to 5-2 at 15:13. Wright backhanded the puck in after Knight stopped Michael Eyssimont twice from in close after a shot from Brandon Montour.

“It was a great play by ‘Eyssi’ to find space,” Wright said. “(Montour), kind of give and go. Got a rebound, and I was just kind of right place, right time and able to finish it off there.”

Wright finished a cross-ice pass through the slot from Larsson at 6:55 of the third period for the 6-2 final.

“To have four lines roll over and everyone share the responsibility, everyone share the load, is when we’re at our best,” Bylsma said. “That’s what the game afforded, and you see contributions from throughout our lineup as a result.”

NOTES: Eyssimont played in his 200th NHL game. … The Kraken scored six unanswered goals in a game for the second time this season (also Jan. 11) and became the fifth team to do so multiple times in 2024-25, alongside Florida (three times), Dallas (twice), New York Rangers (twice), Ottawa (twice) and Winnipeg (twice). … Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson played in his 500th NHL game. … Bedard scored his 40th career goal. He became the ninth active player to score 40 as a teenager, joining Patrik Laine (80), Sidney Crosby (75), Steven Stamkos (55), Jeff Skinner (51), Andrei Svechnikov (44), Matt Duchene (42), Jordan Staal (41) and Auston Matthews (40).