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.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks beat down by Hurricanes 7-2 appeared first on The Rink.

First period

This game started off very slowly, with neither team getting much going in the early part of the game. With just under four minutes left in the frame, and the Blackhawks on the power play, the shots were 5–0 Carolina. Then, the Hurricanes got something going. The Blackhawks attempted to keep the puck in the offensive zone, but the Hurricanes fought to push the puck out. They ended up in a 2-on-1 following a Philipp Kurashev turnover, even with Lukas Reichel pushing to get back to help. The puck found its way to Seth Jarvis, who buried the goal past Arvid Soderblom, 1–0 Carolina. Dach almost had one back for the Blackhawks on a clearing attempt by Pyotr Kochetkov, but the netminder managed to dive back and stop the puck from way out of position following his miscue.

With 1:22 left in the frame, the Blackhawks would get even. Nick Foligno passed from just inside the zone to a streaking Ilya Mikheyev, who buried a snap shot right under the arm of Kochetkov, knotting things up 1–1 heading into the intermission.

Ilya equalizer pic.twitter.com/FI1lmplAY0

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 31, 2025

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Second period

It took a little less time in the second, but the Hurricanes got on the board. The newest member of the team, Mikko Rantanen, took a pass and managed to squeak a puck through the five hole of Soderblom, 2–1 Hurricanes. That is definitely one that the Blackhawks would like to have had back, as a poor offensive zone read by Frank Nazar resulted in the counterattack for the Canes. Just over a minute later, the Hurricanes had a couple of chances back to back. Jackson Blake had a shot in tight go off the crossbar and out. That puck found its way to Jaccob Slavin, who buried it to make the score 3–1 Hurricanes. It would go to the second intermission with Carolina holding onto that two-goal lead.

Third period

The Hurricanes once again started off with some good chances in the third. They had a few shots in a row saved by Soderblom, with the puck finally finding its way to Seth Jones. He saw Connor Bedard streaking up the wing and found him with a pass. Bedard was in all alone and fired the puck past Kochetkov, getting things back to a one-goal game.

we want you to watch this Bedsy goal pic.twitter.com/HaIDkSVdaP

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 31, 2025

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Unfortunately, the Blackhawks were unable to get anything else going, and the Hurricanes held on to win 3–2 in Raleigh.

Analysis

The Blackhawks struggled to get things going against Carolina. They played decent defense, created some giveaways and got a couple of power plays to work with, but could not get many shots on goal. It is always deflating to give up shorthanded goals, especially when it is the first goal of the game. Soderblom surely would have liked to have Rantanen’s first goal as a Hurricane back, as that puck had no business getting to the back of the net. Mikheyev and Bedard were able to get their chances on the breakaway. That is not a good source of goals normally, so in some ways they were lucky to get the two goals they had.

The Blackhawks’ next game is on Saturday in Sunrise against the Florida Panthers. That game will be on ABC and ESPN+ at 12 p.m. CST.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks come up short in Carolina 3–2 appeared first on The Rink.

First period

The Hurricanes jumped out to a 1–0 lead at 11:45 of the first when Michael Bunting scored his 13th of the season. Martin Necas stickhandled behind the net and dished to a wide-open Bunting, who backhanded a shot past Mrazek, who had made several strong saves to open the contest. The Canes held the one-goal lead through 20 minutes as they controlled play for the first period, outshooting the Hawks 15–5.

Second period

Less than two minutes into the second period, Necas skated through both Hawks defensemen and lifted a backhander past his good friend Mrazek to give Carolina a 2–0 lead. For Necas, it was his 17th of the season at the 1:59 mark.

The Hurricanes’ dominance continued when Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored his 10th of the season at 8:22. With the Canes buzzing around the Hawks zone, Dmitry Orlov fired a cross-ice pass to Kotkaniemi, who sniped a wrist shot from the left circle into the corner of the net to give Carolina a 3–0 lead.

Sebastian Aho stretched the Hurricanes’ lead to 4–0 with his 20th goal of the season. Andrei Svechnikov dished to Aho, who skated behind the net and came back out to the left of Mrazek and snapped a wrist shot to the far corner at 10:52 of the second period. At this point, the Canes were outshooting the Hawks 27–7.

The Hawks finally scratched the scoresheet when Connor Bedard beat two Canes defenders to the puck along the boards and fed Nick Foligno in the right circle. Despite being well covered, Foligno spun around and fired a hard backhand shot past Martin to cut the deficit to 4–1 at 15:23. That would be the score through two with Carolina dominating shots on goal, 31–9.

Fliggy gets us on the board! pic.twitter.com/oh3QttBWOh

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 20, 2024

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Third period

At 2:34 of the third, Brent Burns scored a power play goal to give Carolina a 5–1 lead. Aho’s point shot was stopped by Mrazek, but the puck went to the right of the Hawks goaltender and on to the stick of Burns, who scored his ninth of the season.

The Hawks thought they cut the deficit to 5–2 on a goal by Bedard, but after review, it was determined that Hawks defensemen Louis Crevier pulled the puck out of the zone prior to the goal being scored. This was Bedard’s third overturned goal of the season and second since making his return to the lineup last week.

A few minutes later, Bedard scored a goal that would count and would be his 17th of the season. Tyler Johnson skated the puck into the Canes’ zone and behind the net. Johnson fed Philipp Kurashev, who gave a no-look feed to a wide-open Bedard to tap it in on the power play to cut it to 5–2 at the 7:00 mark.

that one will count pic.twitter.com/Pg8vSFHiu5

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 20, 2024

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The Hawks cut it to 5–3 with a power play goal from Johnson. The Hawks controlled the puck in the Carolina zone. From the right circle, Bedard snapped the puck in front to Johnson, who had inside positioning and tipped it past Martin for his 11th of the season at 9:08 of the third.

Bedard Johnson pic.twitter.com/ZpGVU2xBUg

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 20, 2024

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With the Hawks’ net empty, Jordan Staal won a neutral zone draw that was gathered by Seth Jarvis, who fed Jordan Martinook, who lofted the puck from center ice into the net for his 10th of the season at 18:11. Carolina led 6–3 and that was the final.

Analysis

The Blackhawks started slow and it would continue through the first 50 minutes of the game as the deeper and more talented Hurricanes pinned the Hawks in their zone and flat out dominated from the opening draw. Mrazek did all he could early to keep the Hawks in the game but it was not enough, especially with the Hawks unable to generate many scoring chances. On the positive side, the Hawks generated two power play goals, as Bedard continued his strong play with a three-point night, giving him two goals and six points in three games since he returned from injury.

The Blackhawks return home on Wednesday night for the first of a five-game homestand when they host the Philadelphia Flyers. Puck drop is at 6:30 p.m. CST with a nationally televised broadcast on TNT and the radio call on WGN 720 AM.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks unable to weather early storm in 6–3 loss at Carolina appeared first on The Rink.

With the Chicago Wolves going independent, Carolina has no AHL affiliate. They have made a deal with the Eagles to loan dman Caleb Jones to Colorado. #Avs #GoAvsGo #Canes #EaglesCountry @TheRinkColorado pic.twitter.com/vV210C4WK1

— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) October 9, 2023

Jones, who was a fourth-round pick by the Edmonton Oilers, is the brother of Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones. He is also the son of former Denver Nuggets power forward Popeye Jones. Caleb is a versatile two-way defenseman who can fill many roles. He is aggressive on the blue line and physical on the boards. Jones plays a very mobile game with his head up and aware of the play ahead of him. Now, he will become one of the Avalanche’s top choices to call up when they need a defenseman in Denver.

Unless the Hurricanes recall him now, Burke will continue to stay with the Eagles. Burke plays a 200-foot game, often leading the play out of the defensive zone. After passing to the winger, he crashes the net for rebounds or tap-ins. In December last year, Burke was called up to the Avalanche to make his NHL debut against the Boston Bruins, a team he grew up cheering for. In his two-game stint, he could not generate any points. Burke will stay with the Eagles because of their connection with the Hurricanes, which is fortunate since he and his wife recently had a baby boy.

The Avalanche have additional blue line choices for potential recalls. The Eagles’ disadvantage is working with a non-owned prospect in their system. This can hurt the player’s development chances of maintaining consistent ice time. The Avalanche and Eagles now have a congested blue line. Players must work harder for ice time. The sooner Carolina can secure their own affiliate club, the better.

The post Avalanche trade Burke for Jones appeared first on The Rink.

— The Blackhawks started slow and would never recover, as the Hurricanes dominated 5-on-5 play. Carolina took a 1–0 lead about midway through the first period when Jordan Martinook redirected a Brent Burns point shot for his fourth of the season.

— Carolina extended its lead to 2–0 with just under five minutes to go in the first when Jordan Staal scored his fourth on a wrist shot from the right circle that went over the glove of Petr Mrazek, who made 29 saves in the loss.

— In the second period, Andrei Svechnikov sniped his 12th of the season at the 14:07 mark on a setup from Jesper Fast, who intercepted a Caleb Jones clearing attempt. The Canes’ 3–0 lead would stand as final. Pyotr Kochetkov made 27 saves for his first NHL shutout to move Carolina to 10–5–1 on the season while the Blackhawks dropped to 6–6–3.

— The lone bright spot for the Hawks was the penalty kill, which went 4-for-4 against Carolina. The Hawks have killed off 10 straight since they gave up three power play goals in their 4–0 loss at Winnipeg on Nov. 5.

The Blackhawks return to the United Center on Wednesday night for a nationally televised matchup against the St. Louis Blues. Puck drop on TNT is at 6:30 p.m. CST.

The post Blackhawks Post-game One-timers — Nov. 14 vs. Carolina Hurricanes appeared first on The Rink.

McCann was taken by the Kraken in the expansion draft from the Toronto Maple Leafs, whom he had been traded to just three days previously, and quickly won fans’ hearts with his hard-nosed play and knack for finding the net.

In 51 games this season, the 25-year-old center has 33 points (21 goals, 12 assists). His 21 goals is a new career-high, and he is on track to beat his career-high of 35 points well before the season ends.

https://twitter.com/SeattleKraken/status/1501228431421362176

Bookending the McCann extension were games this weekend against the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes, then last night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. These were the first three games of an East Coast road trip, which wraps up Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.

Saturday at Washington

The Capitals hosted the Kraken for captain Mark Giordano’s 1,000th game on Saturday, but those were all the celebrations for Seattle. Alex Ovechkin scored his 764th goal, which left him just two shy of Jaromir Jagr for third overall on the all-time goal scoring list, a mark which he has since tied.

Washington took a 2–0 lead in the first period on goals by Tom Wilson and Dmitry Orlov, just 34 seconds apart. Seattle battled back on goals from Joonas Donskoi late in the first and Colin Blackwell just 58 seconds into the second period.

Blackwell never gives up & finds the back of the net! pic.twitter.com/Y0NFZIGJ5B

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) March 6, 2022

Washington got unanswered power play goals from Conor Sheary and Ovechkin before Sheary added a late empty-net goal to button up a 5–2 win. Goaltender Chris Driedger saved 20 of 24 shots for the Kraken.

Sunday at Carolina

The Kraken made the short trip from Washington D.C. to Raleigh, North Carolina, to face the Hurricanes on Sunday evening. Seattle jumped out to 1–0 and 2–1 leads in the second period before succumbing to the Canes on a power play goal by Teuvo Teravainen and a third-period game-winning goal from Martin Necas.

Pick up the phone! It’s answer time, baby!

Boi Boi with a *swede* response goal! pic.twitter.com/cI2u2TRavN

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) March 7, 2022

Seattle’s goals were from Alexander Wennberg and Calle Jarnkrok but, once again, the Kraken were unable to hold onto a lead. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer stopped 30 of 33 shots and probably deserved a better fate.

Tuesday at Toronto

Continuing their road trip, the Kraken hopped the border to face the Maple Leafs last night. Star center Auston Matthews scored his 41st, 42nd and 43rd goals of the season to power the Leafs to a 6–4 win.

Matthews opened the scoring with his first goal just 3:18 into the game and completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal in the waning moments of the game. Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares also had goals for the Maple Leafs, while Blackwell, Jaden Schwartz, Carson Soucy and Wennberg all scored for the Kraken.

BLACKWELL IS ON FIRE!!

drop some 's if you agree pic.twitter.com/IlSciJuMA0

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) March 9, 2022

Three of Toronto’s six goals were on the power play with the Kraken taking six costly penalties that sealed their fate. Grubauer saved 26 of 31 shots on net.

  The Kraken take a short trip to face the Ottawa Senators tomorrow night. Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m. PST.

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The Carolina Hurricanes made their first visit to Seattle, Wednesday, to face the Kraken. Carolina was on the heels of an overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks two nights before, which ended a four game winning streak. Seattle was coming off a big home win against the Washington Capitals on Sunday night. Taking two out of three games from the Colorado Avalanche, Capitals or Hurricanes should be just what they need to get the train rolling in the right direction.

The Kraken and Canes played a pretty tight first period, which was nice to see if you are a “long-suffering” Kraken fan. Shots were 9–7 in favor of the visitors, and there was just one goal scored.

Late in the first, defenseman Brendan Smith beat Philipp Grubauer from long range on a perfect screen shot just under the crossbar. As we mentioned on last week’s Kraken Hostile Rinkcast, the Kraken netminder has really struggled this season to stop those shots he should but this was not necessarily the case. Hurricanes veteran center Jared Staal provided the screen in front which was enough to delay Grubauer’s reaction.

This resulted in a 1–0 Carolina lead after 20 minutes.

The Kraken fought back, as they did against the Capitals, with another power play goal from red-hot Jared McCann. The goal was their sixth in their last 12 opportunities and ran their streak of power play goals to five straight games.

Despite getting outshot 16–9, Grubauer and the Seattle defense held the Canes scoreless in the second, which set up a tight third period for the Kraken faithful.

Just when it seemed as though the game was headed to overtime, Kraken forward Marcus Johansson surprised Carolina goaltender Freddie Andersen (and everyone watching) with a shot that found its way through two Canes defenders and into the back of the net. The goal came with just over three minutes left in regulation and was all that Grubauer and the Kraken needed to pull off a second goalie win in a row.

things we’re thankful for:

– jojo giving us the lead pic.twitter.com/ImyAbdO75P

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) November 25, 2021

Anchor points

We pointed out the goalie win on Sunday which makes this game a second goalie win in a row. Could Grubauer finally be finding his footing? He has saved 51 of his last 54 shots faced and has a .944 overall save percentage. More importantly, he has saved all 16 high-danger chances he has seen in the last two games. This is the Philipp Grubauer we all expected.

The power play is on fire and has made its way up to 21st overall. We preached earlier this season about how the Kraken needed solid goaltending and power play production to win games and here we are, winning on the heels of a power play goal and strong performances in goal.

The possession and analytics metrics were a mess for the Kraken. The 5-on-5 in shot attempts (Corsi 63%-37%), unblocked shots (Fenwick 58%-42%), high danger chances for (HDCF% 69%–31%) and expected goal for (xGF% 69%-31%) were all heavily in favor of Carolina, which is not unexpected for one of the top teams in the league. Carolina also had a convincing lead in faceoff wins 61%-39%. This is a game that Seattle flat-out stole from the Hurricanes.

The Kraken have Thanksgiving off but are right back at it, facing the Tampa Bay Lightning, in Tampa on Friday. The puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. PST.

After seeing the players use a pirate hat, #SeaKraken investor Jerry Bruckheimer decided to create a one-of-a-kind surprise for the team’s Player of the Game award.

Introducing from the depths to the sea – the Davy Jones Hat. pic.twitter.com/KcjH46OLao

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) November 25, 2021

The post RECAP: Grubauer shines in Kraken 2–1 win over Hurricanes appeared first on The Rink.

First period

The Blackhawks started things off with a bang in this one. Kane lofted the puck through the neutral zone so high that it could not be controlled by the Carolina defense. It landed on the stick of Alex DeBrincat, who ripped the puck past Frederik Andersen, making it 1–0 Blackhawks.

At the 6:25 mark of the frame, however, the Hurricanes managed to tie it up on a Derek Stepan shot from right in front of the net, tying the game up at 1–1.

The rest of the period was a lot of back and forth, with chances on both sides of the ice. Each team received a power play opportunity, but failed to do anything with it, leaving the score at 1–1 after one.

Second period

Just 2:49 was all that Kane needed to score a goal of his own in the second period. Riley Stillman blasted it from the point, and Kane was there for the tip to get the puck past Andersen to put the hosts back on top at 2–1.

Eight minutes into the frame, Mike Hardman muscled a Hurricanes defenseman off the puck at the Carolina blue line, made a beautiful back pass to Phillip Kurashev, who whipped it across to DeBrincat, who one-timed the puck past Andersen into a yawning cage, doubling the margin at 3–1 for the Hawks.

After some good activity in front of the Carolina net, Erik Gustafsson started to pinch when he very clearly should not have, getting burned by rookie Seth Jarvis, who buried his breakaway chance for the first goal of his young career in just his second NHL game.

At the 13:35 mark of the second, Kirby Dach took a penalty on a hook of Brett Pesce, giving the Hurricanes another power play opportunity. The Blackhawks played good defense on this penalty kill and stymied any chances that the Hurricanes put on goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Going into the third period, the home team was able to keep the score 3–2 going into the intermission.

Third period

Things took a turn just 17 seconds into the period, as the Hurricanes got a 3-on-2 rush into the offensive zone after a brilliant interception in the neutral zone from stud defenseman Jaccob Slavin, with the result being Jesper Fast slipping the puck past Fleury and knotting the game up at 3–3.

A few short minutes later, at the 3:26 mark of the period, Martin Necas got a wrister in on Fleury that squibbed under his right arm and over the line, giving the Hurricanes their first lead of the evening and making it 4–3.

At the 6:06 mark of the period, the Blackhawks took their second power play of the game on an Ian Cole interference penalty. However, they did not get any good opportunities on the man advantage and let the Hurricanes continually clear the puck from harm’s way and keep it down in the Blackhawks’ end of the ice. Jonathan Toews drew another penalty on a Brady Skjei hooking call shortly after. Their puck movement was markedly better, and they were able to keep good pressure on the Hurricanes throughout the first half of the man advantage, even though they were not able to convert any of their chances.

One more power play ought to do it, right? That is what the Blackhawks were hoping for when Dominik Kubalik took a high stick from Ethan Bear for a four-minute power play with yet another chance to tie the game up at four apiece. Chicago even pulled Fleury in order to give themselves an extra attacker in hopes of getting that crucial tying goal. But, the Hawks came up empty-handed and were not able to come back from the hole they got down into, dropping the game by a final score of 4–3.

Analysis

The Blackhawks played a tighter defensive game overall, but some brutal chances cost them the game. Yes, Fleury should have saved the last two goals, but the Blackhawks as a whole should have played better team defense in the third period to not have allowed those chances in the first place.

The Hawks have to find ways for other guys to score. It is great when DeBrincat and Kane can put the puck in the net, but the secondary players really need to pick up the pace as well and start generating some good chances.

The Blackhawks will look to get back into the win column on Friday against the Winnipeg Jets. Coverage starts at 7 p.m. CDT on NBC Sports Chicago.

The post Blackhawks drop 4–3 heartbreaker to undefeated Hurricanes appeared first on The Rink.

The Blackhawks were once again without Patrick Kane, who is still out with Covid-19, but had a new face in the lineup, Issak Phillips. Phillips was recalled from Rockford to replace Ian Mitchell on the roster. Phillips was drafted in the fifth round of the 2021 NHL draft and signed an entry-level contract on March 31st.

While it was a night to remember for Phillips, it was a night the Blackhawks will want to soon forget.

First period

For the second straight game, the Blackhawks jumped out to a lead. Early in the first period, Jonathan Toews dug a puck out from behind the net and fed Brandon Hagel who buried the pass for his first goal of the season. The early lead for the Blackhawks did not last long as the Canes Tony DeAngelo tied the game up at one.

Just past the midway point of the first period, Carolina’s Brady Skeji was sent to the penalty box for high sticking. On the season the Blackhawks were fifth-best in the NHL on the powerplay and their early powerplay success continued as Erik Gustafsson swung the puck to Phillip Kurashev who found Adam Gaudette for the backhanded goal. It was Gaudette’s first goal of the season and the Blackhawks’ ninth powerplay goal this year.

The lead for the Blackhawks was very short-lived. The very reliable penalty kill for the Blackhawks yielded a goal from the Canes Jordan Staal to take the lead. After the Staal goal, the flood gates opened for Carolina. Forward Derek Stephan snuck a goal through Kevin Lankinen’s wickets for their third goal of the game. With a team struggling like the Blackhawks are this season, they can ill afford to give soft goals like the Stephan goal.

With Carolina cruising long, the Blackhawks Jake McCabe coughed up the puck in the neutral zone which led to a two-on-one breakaway for the Canes. Jesperi Kotkaniemi fired the puck past a helpless Lankinen for Canes’ fourth goal of the period.  For the period, Carolina outshot the Blackhawks 19–10 and lead on the scoreboard 4–2.

Second Period

In the second period, the Blackhawks committed an early penalty that led to an early Carolina goal. On the penalty kill, the Blackhawks seemed disinterested in playing defense making it way too easy for Sebastian Aho to give the Canes a three-goal lead.

Later in the period, the Blackhawks were victims of a wonky bounce when a puck deflected off a Blackhawks defenseman that lead to the sixth goal of the game for Carolina’s Andrei Svenchnikov. To add insult to injury, Tyler Johnson left the game with an apparent arm injury after being illegally cross-checked by Vincent Trochek.

When the second period mercifully ended, the Blackhawks only trailed the Canes 6–2.

Third Period

In the third period, the Blackhawks came out with some fire in their bellies. Reese Johnson tried to fire up the team by fighting the first star of the night Tony DeAngelo. The third period boxing card also had another bout scheduled as Connor Murphy and Andrei Svechnikov dropped the gloves for the second fight of the period.

In the third period, the Blackhawks drew four penalties against Carolina for a grand total of eight penalties for the game. Alex Debrincat capitalized on one of the four chances to cut the lead in half. Despite their best efforts in the third period, the Blackhawks fell to Carolina 6–3.

Analysis: The good, the bad, the ugly

The good

Alex Debincat scored his second goal in two games and has been playing really good hockey. He is currently the Blackhawks’ best player.

Issak Philip made his NHL debut at the age of 19.

The Blackhawks drew eight penalties for the game. It was the most powerplay chances the Blackhawks have had in a single game since 2018 against the Montreal Canadiens.

The bad:

Erik Gustafsson is not a very good defensive player and it is costing the Blackhawks more than in years past. His poor defense in the first period directly lead to one Canes goal.

Erik Gustafsson makes some really curious decisions not to play defense whatsoever sometimes

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) October 30, 2021

The ugly:

Despite taking a lead in their second consecutive game, the Blackhawks have failed to win a game this season through eight games. Breath easy fans, the Blackhawks would need to lose six more games before they tied their franchise record.

The Blackhawks have yet to score over three goals this season and have yielded at least three goals in every game this season.

The Blackhawks continue their road trip as they take on the Blues on October 30th at 7 pm CDT.

The post The Blackhawks surrender a touchdown to Carolina in another loss appeared first on The Rink.

• 1–4 in featured picks. WSH three-way only winner
• Parlay was busted from the start with Leafs not hitting the over
• 0–3 in props 

We keep going today, though. It was a rocky start, but it is only the beginning. Let’s get into my picks for Thursday night.

(All odds courtesy of BetRiversIL)

Arizona Coyotes (+138) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (-162)

O/U: 5.5 -112

The Arizona Coyotes gutted their team. Darcy Kuemper is in Colorado, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland were traded to Vancouver and Christian Dvorak wound up in Montreal. There was a lot of shakeup in Arizona as the focus turns toward the youth. 

On the other side, the Columbus Blue Jackets want to make some noise. Their forward group is solid, led by Patrik Laine and Oliver Bjorkstrand. They have invested in Elvis Merzlikins to tend the pipes, and new head coach Brad Larsen was hired after eight years as an assistant in Columbus. Their defense will have a chip on its shoulder, as there is plenty to prove. 

My pick: Columbus three-way -103 

New York Islanders (+108) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (-124) 

O/U: 5.5

The New York Islanders play a style that suffocates their opponent. Barry Trotz is one of the best coaches in the league. As many say, they bore you to sleep, but they get the job done. Anders Lee is back. They re-signed Kyle Palmieri, who is a perfect fit for their style of play. Zach Parise was added for forward depth. In addition, Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock may be the best defensive pairing in the NHL. I had them in a future bet to win the Stanley Cup last season, but they fell just short to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the semifinals. 

The Carolina Hurricanes are a loaded squad, too. While losing Dougie Hamilton was not ideal, Ethan Bear should help pick up the slack. And, they snagged Jesperi Kotkaniemi from Montreal. They should run the tables this year. 

My pick: Islander ML. Hard to get against Mathew Barzal and the boys. Ride the Isles. 

I will have a bonus play at 5:30 p.m. CDT on my Twitter, @ThomasGibbons_3.

Basics of hockey betting Money line — Winning team Puck line — Team wins by at least two goals (-1.5 when placing a bet) Three-way line — Team wins in regulation  Over/under — Total goals scored during a game including overtime but not a shootout  Parlay — A combination of two or more bets

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The post Tommy’s Puckline Picks — Oct. 14, 2021 appeared first on The Rink.

Sunday, Jan. 31: Hawks win 3–1 behind Kane, Kurashev

With Kevin Lankinen back in net, the rookie stopped 32 of 33 shots against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Patrick Kane and Philipp Kurashev each had a goal and an assist to lead the offense. Pius Suter added his fourth goal of the season, and Mattias Janmark added two assists.

Tuesday, Feb. 2: Hawks lose 4–3 in shootout vs. Carolina

Lankinen was in the net once again, making 37 saves in the loss to the Hurricanes. Kurashev, Kane and Dylan Strome each scored a goal for the Hawks. Dominik Kubalik and Alex DeBrincat both added two assists. Lankinen made a point-blank save with seconds left in overtime to send the game to a shootout. The Hawks went 0-for-3 in the shootout. Andrei Svechnikov scored the lone goal of the shootout for the Hurricanes.

Thursday, Feb 4: Hawks’ special teams lead the way in 6–4 victory

Lankinen made his fifth straight start in net for the Hawks, making 30 saves against the Hurricanes. The Blackhawks’ special teams were the bright spot during this game. The penalty kill negated all four opportunities for Carolina and Chicago scored three power play goals out of five chances. All three power play goals came in the first period. Janmark, Kubalik and Andrew Shaw all tallied the goals for the Hawks in the first frame. The Hurricanes scored two goals, just eight seconds apart, in the early going of the second period to tie the game at 3–3. The Hawks then exploded for another three goals in the third to secure the victory. DeBrincat scored twice, including the empty netter at the end to seal the win. Kane tallied one goal and three assists for his 14th career four-point game. Kane now has 1,037 career points, which moves him into sixth place among U.S.-born players.

Patrick Kane (1-3—4) recorded his 14th career four-point game as the @NHLBlackhawks improved to 4-1-1 at home in 2020-21. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/0NDvtiDoGK

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 5, 2021

Going forward

It looks like Lankinen has taken over as the No. 1 goalie—for now. He has started in the last five games in a row for the Hawks. The defense has been allowing a lot of shots the past three games, 33, 41 and 34, respectively. Lankinen has been standing tall so far, getting a lot of work in the crease with that many shots coming his way.

Next week, the Hawks travel to Dallas for two games against the Stars. Then they come back home for two more games against Columbus.

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