Mikheyev scores twice, Blackhawks defeat Kraken for 3rd win in row 

CHICAGO -- Ilya Mikheyev scored two goals to help the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-1 victory against the Seattle Kraken at United Center on Thursday.

Arvid Soderblom made 27 saves for the Blackhawks (12-19-2), who have won three straight. Nolan Allan scored his first NHL goal, and Teuvo Teravainen had two assists.

"I think it’s the first one since I’ve been here,” Chicago captain Nick Foligno said of the three-game streak. “It’s a good feeling. It’s a credit to the guys and believing in what we’re trying to do here and knowing there’s more to give and expecting more of ourselves. I think we’re excited [with] the direction we’re going with Anders (interim head coach Sorensen) here, and he’s done a great job of coming in and solidifying some things, but it’s a credit to the group.”

The Blackhawks are 4-3-0 under Sorensen, who took over after Luke Richardson was fired on Dec. 5.

“I think just the daily process of how we're doing things,” Sorensen said. “But even within our game, I think we're playing a bit more, we're hanging on to more pucks, I think we're making a bit more plays. We're a little bit more on the rush, maybe, which has been good. Today again, I thought we did that. I thought coming out of our D-zone, we're coming out with numbers, and that's a big part. And we're connected coming out. It's not one guy coming out. We're connected coming out. So that helps.”

Ryker Evans scored, and Joey Daccord made 21 saves for the Kraken (15-17-2), who have lost three in a row. Kaapo Kakko had two shots in his debut for Seattle after he was acquired in a trade from the New York Rangers on Wednesday.

“I would just say we didn’t do him any favors tonight,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said. “Let the puck do the work for you. Let the puck give you an opportunity to have success with how you execute with it. How we executed with it didn’t give anybody a chance to have success tonight in the game.”

Mikheyev scored in his third straight game to put the Blackhawks up 1-0 at 10:54 of the second period. Teravainen shot the puck to the front of the net, and it deflected in off Mikheyev’s left knee.

Mikheyev made it 2-0 at 6:06 of the third period, taking a pass from Teravainen in the high slot and scoring on a wrist shot.

“I think our line plays simple hockey sometimes, but it’s what we need right now,” Mikheyev said. “(Center Jason Dickinson) has great speed, and everybody helps each other. Teuvo’s a smart guy and he finds us, for sure.”

Evans brought the Kraken within 2-1 at 11:26. The defenseman moved in from his position at the left point and scored with a snap shot from the bottom of the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Oliver Bjorkstrand.

“I think we were moving the puck pretty good in the O-zone that shift,” Evans said. "[Brandon Montour] got it over to Ollie, and Ollie made a great pass across ice there, and I kind of had all day. So, it was a great heads-up play by Bjorkstrand there.”

Allan took a cross-ice pass from Ryan Donato and scored with a snap shot from the left circle for the 3-1 final at 15:11.

“It’s something you dream of,” Allan said of his first NHL goal. “It was pretty cool that it was kind of a big goal, gave us a little bit of a cushion there. Just a fun game to be part of and a super exciting moment.”

NOTES: The winning streak is the first of at least three games for the Blackhawks since they won five in a row from Feb. 17-25, 2023. … Teravainen, who also notched three assists Tuesday (3-2 win against Washington Capitals), became the 10th different skater in Blackhawks history to assist on five consecutive team goals, and first since Patrick Sharp (five from Jan. 30 – Feb. 6, 2015). Bobby Hull is the only Blackhawks player to push that streak to six (Nov. 3-6, 1968) … Yanni Gourde, a forward, returned to the Seattle lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury. He saved a goal in the first period by blocking a shot by Joey Anderson in front of the net.