TAKEAWAYS: Blackhawks Find ‘Winning Mindset” in Victory vs. Kraken

Following Sunday’s matchup against the St. Louis Blues, head coach Luke Richardson and players described the winning attitudes that the team needed to find in order to try and earn some wins over the next few contests. Tonight, the group felt that energy to earn their second victory out of their last three games.

The Blackhawks took the lead early in the first period with a goal from Boris Katchouk to help kick the game off. From there, Chicago started the find its rhythm and focus on the small details to finish the night off with a win.

“I just thought we did the little things to win,” Seth Jones said. “We got pucks deep, all of our lines played great and brought a great energy.” 

In the 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken, three of the Blackhawks’ goals came from the team’s third or fourth line to try and maintain their lead. While Seattle tied the score at 2-2 at the end of the first, the Blackhawks found the determination to stick to their game.

Nick Foligno also praised the team for not writing the game with the two goals and finding a way to stay on top throughout the game to showcase their winning mindsets. 

“When we had a dip and looked like we're kind of giving him some goals, we just find our way back again,” Foligno said. “That's what a winning mindset means, like, alright, we screwed up here, but we're not going to let that affect us.” 

Another component that shined for the Blackhawks included the team’s penalty kill which struggled in the last few weeks but came back together in the third period. 

The team killed off a 5-on-3 chance for Seattle in the third period that helped secure Chicago’s win on Tuesday night. After that shift, Jones hopes that can create another foundation to build off of as they go against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.

“That's kind of a kill where we can really jumpstart a penalty kill, I think and get it back to where it was early in the season because we were pretty good,” Jones said. “So, hopefully, that kind of jump starts that and that can help us get some games.”

As the team added a new win to their record, Richardson felt that the players came into the matchup determined to gain a victory with their new winning attitude. 

“I think the guys were really determined today to get a win and go on to the road with a winning attitude,” Richardson said. “It might not have been pretty all the way through to the end, but it was definitely scrappy, and I liked the determination to get that win.”