The Chicago Blackhawks are clearly at the point in another lost season where they have no more energy some nights. These young guys do the best that they can, but it is clear that an 82-game schedule has put plenty of strain on them. The Blackhawks had lost six out of seven games coming into Thursday night, and would look to get back on track at home. The only lineup change of note from their game versus San Jose would be Andre Burakovsky coming in for Sacha Boisvert.
First period
The Blackhawks started off this game rough already. Nineteen seconds into the game, Sean Walker circled around twice to get two shots off, and got the second past Spencer Knight, 1-0 Carolina. The defense did nothing to stop him from doing exactly what he wanted in staying exactly where he wanted to in the offensive zone. It would take a few minutes, but the Blackhawks would answer that first Carolina goal. Louis Crevier took the puck hard to the net. He was stopped, but the rebound laid right in front for Anton Frondell to put it home, 1-1.
what a sweet Swede goal🤩🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/tkuMu9E7d4
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 10, 2026
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Just a couple of minutes later, the Blackhawks got another huge chance. Andrew Mangiapane took a beautiful pass from Ilya Mikheyev. He put the puck right on goal, but Frederik Andersen stuck the skate out and managed to keep it out. With just a couple of minutes left in the period, Logan Stankoven stole the puck along the boards. He skated right in and tucked the puck over the shoulder of Knight, 2-1 Carolina.
Second period
Four minutes into the second, the Hurricanes kept coming. Stankoven got his second goal of the game on a rebound after old friend Taylor Hall was stopped. Ten minutes later, Carolina would get another one. Alexander Nikishin put a shot on net from the point that was tipped by Mark Jankowski out in front to make the score 4-1. That is where things would stay going into the third period.
Third period
This period was more of the same. K’Andre Miller got called for a trip of Connor Bedard a few minutes into the period. As the power play expired, William Carrier got the puck in the Blackhawks’ defensive zone. He found Miller as he came up ice and he buried a wrister, 5-1 Hurricanes. Twenty-two seconds later, the Blackhawks got one back. Frondell got the redirection in front off of a Crevier shot toward the net, 5-2 Carolina.
first career multi-goal game for Anton ✅ pic.twitter.com/An8Mb2DwDZ
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 10, 2026
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Two minutes later, the Hurricanes would keep pouring it on. Shayne Gostisbehere made a beautiful pass through Frank Nazar to Hall, who whipped around and fired a goal past Knight, 6-1. A few minutes later, right off of the faceoff, Ethan Del Mastro got the puck. As he went to make a pass, his stick snapped. The Hurricanes came back the other way, with Jankowski getting his second of the game, 7-2. That would mercifully be the end of this game, with the Hurricanes finishing off the beat-down.
Analysis
Plenty of defensive miscues along with some poor effort led to this blowout. In addition to the exhaustion of the young guys, not getting back on defense is unacceptable, and should not be the reason that another team scores easily. Burakovsky, Connor Bedard, Nick Lardis and Teuvo Teravainen being -4 is horrendous and cannot be the case if this team is to win games. Being on the ice for that many opposing goals shows that something had to be off in your game that night, whether that be lack of effort or otherwise.
The Blackhawks’ next game is on Saturday at 4 p.m. CDT on CHSN against the St. Louis Blues.