The Chicago Blackhawks came into Thursday night’s game looking for their third straight win. With the Seattle Kraken in town, they had to like their chances with the way they’ve been playing lately.
Before the game started, Chicago honored Blackhawks legendary Jeremy Roenick for reaching the Hockey Hall of Fame. He spoke in the atrium earlier in the day, blowing the horn before the puck dropped and having a video tribute played during the first TV timeout.
The Blackhawks know how to honor a legend and Roenick certainly is one. To say he had a great emotional evening would be an understatement.
Neither team scored in the first period, but it’s the best 20 minutes the Hawks have had this season. Multiple risky opportunities just wouldn’t apply to them. Most periods with that level of play will usually lead to multiple goals.
The Hawks finally broke through in the second period. At 10:54 of the middle frame, Ilya Mikheyev scored in his third straight match. Once again, Teuvo Teravainen pulled away with an assist as these two continued to build chemistry.
Getting up going into the third is always how you want things to be. However, blowing the game in the final frame has been a problem for the Blackhawks this season, so they wanted to solve that problem again.
Remarkably, Teuvo Teravainen found Ilya Mikheyev again for his second goal of the match at 6:06 of the final frame. This was a beautiful snipe that deserves to be on the highlight reels.
However, Seattle did not give in. At 11:26 of the final period, Ryker Evans scored to put the Kraken on the board. Luckily, that would be it for Seattle’s goal-scoring side.
Nolan Allan added his first NHL goal at 15:11 and the Hawks held on for the 3-1 victory. This marks the first time the Hawks have won three in a row during the Connor Bedard era.
The last time they did that was in the final three games of Patrick Kane’s Blackhawks career (February 2023). This is a feel-good moment for a team that was craving some positivity a few weeks ago.
This is also the first time that Connor Bedard has been part of a three-game winning streak in the NHL. He needs to gain experience of winning, so this is good for his development.
“It should be a good building block for the group.” Interim head coach Anders Sorensen said when asked if he would win three in a row. “They have to feel good tonight and then continue tomorrow, right? But it was a big step for the young group and we all feel good about it now and then back to work tomorrow.”
Anders Sorensen knows this is a big milestone for this young team, but it can’t end there. Whether they win or lose their next game is not as important as developing and implementing a winning process.
“This is the first one since I’ve been here, it’s a good feeling.” Said captain Nick Foligno as he won three straight. “It’s a credit to the guys and the belief in what we’re trying to do here and realizing that we have more to give and expect more of ourselves. I think we’re excited about the direction we’re going in here with Anders. “
Foligno has had some great win situations during his NHL career, but that hasn’t been the case as often with the Hawks. After this win over the Kraken, it’s clear he’s excited about winning three in a row.
The Blackhawks have now completed the “pre-Christmas” portion of their schedule. However, there are still two games left before the break officially arrives for the Hawks. They have road tilts against the Calgary Flames (Saturday) and Minnesota Wild (Monday) before a few days off completely.
There are different vibrations under coach Sorensen, but the energy system also helps them. This winning streak could be a sign of things to come as this team continues to develop.
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