Kraken ease past Blackhawks, Bedard road point streak ends at 10

SEATTLE -- Kailer Yamamoto scored twice, and Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal and two assists for the Seattle Kraken in a 7-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.

Will Borgen and Ryker Evans each had two assists for the Kraken (10-14-7), who won their second straight game after an eight-game skid (0-6-2). Joey Daccord made 21 saves.

“It’s nice to see some of that [offensive swagger],” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “It’s nice to see different guys get on the score sheet. That's important to have different guys contributing.”

Connor Bedard, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, had his 10-game road point streak end for the Blackhawks (9-19-1), who have lost three straight. The rookie center had 14 points (nine goals, five assists) in that span.

Arvid Soderblom allowed seven goals on 24 shots before being replaced by Petr Mrazek in the third period. Mrazek made five saves in relief.

“I think it’s [about] us coming into the game just ready to play,” Chicago forward Tyler Johnson said. “Go after them a little bit, compared to being scared to make mistakes, and I think that's just kind of what happened today."

Yamamoto gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 3:07 of the first period. Borgen deflected a Reese Johnson breakout pass to Yamamoto just outside the blue line, and he skated in and scored over the pad of Soderblom.

Yamamoto made it 2-0 at 17:47 after a Vince Dunn slap shot hit Blackhawks defenseman Nikita Zaitsev and dropped to Yamamoto for an open net.

Seattle’s fourth line (Yamamoto, Devin Shore, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare) has scored five goals in its past two games.

"I think it just gives the guys energy up [on the] top [lines],” Yamamoto said. “You know, we're not scoring every game, so it’s good to be able to contribute. I mean, I think it really helps the team out."

Taylor Raddysh cut it to 2-1 at 3:03 of the second period after Jamie Oleksiak turned it over to Anthony Beauvillier. Beauvillier fed it to Raddysh, who put a short-side shot past Daccord from the bottom of the right circle.

"It kind of gave us a chance,” Raddysh said. “They scored a couple shifts after, so things like that can't happen. And if they do, you've got to bounce back right back, and we didn't do that."

Bjorkstrand restored the two-goal lead 3-1 at 4:22 of the second when his pass to the slot deflected off Jason Dickinson’s skate and in past Soderblom’s glove.

"I saw a little bit of heaviness in our legs," Hakstol said. "We were able to kind of skate through that as we got to the middle part of the second period, for sure. We started to get that pace, started to find that jump on a consistent basis."

Tye Kartye made it 4-1 at 14:43, tipping a Borgen shot from the point past Soderblom.

Eeli Tolvanen extended Seattle’s lead to 5-1 at 17:09. Bjorkstrand passed to Yanni Gourde in the slot, and Gourde found Tolvanen at the back door for a tap-in.

Jared McCann made it 6-1 with a power-play goal from the left circle at 3:07 of the third period, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare squeezed a rebound shot over Soderblom’s left pad at 3:28 for the 7-1 final.

"It's definitely nice [to score seven goals],” Bjorkstrand said. “I think it helps guys get going a little bit and feel a little bit more confident with the puck, so it's never a bad thing. That said, we've got to keep going. And next game [against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday] is a new game, and we start from the beginning."

Chicago was outscored 11-2 in road losses at the Edmonton Oilers and Seattle. The Blackhawks will host the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday. 

"We've just got to be better,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “I don't know if there was an answer for tonight other than the only thing we can do now is learn from it and respond better. And we're going home for three important games [against Vancouver, the Colorado Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens], and they should be winnable."

NOTES: Seattle scored seven goals for the third time this season (7-4 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 19; 7-1 win against the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 22). … Evans had his first multipoint game in his 5th NHL game. He got his first career point, an assist, in a 4-0 win against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.