10 observations: Sleepless Blackhawks unravel in Seattle
10 observations: Sleepless Blackhawks unravel in Seattle originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Chicago Blackhawks unraveled in Seattle after losing to the Kraken 7-1 on Thursday at Climate Pledge Arena.
Here are 10 observations from the loss:
1. The Blackhawks had a sleepless night in Seattle on Tuesday into Wednesday. Their plane from Edmonton was rerouted to Portland at 2 a.m. due to weather. They stayed on the plane for three hours, left Portland at 5:30 a.m. and didn't land in Seattle until 6:30 a.m. They finally got to their hotel room around 7:30 a.m. Can't help but wonder whether that played a factor.
2. No pun intended, but it was a sleepy start for the Blackhawks, who gave up the first goal for the first time in six games. They didn't have much jump in the opening frame, especially in the first half.
3. Arvid Söderblom obviously wasn't at fault for the defensive breakdown on the first goal, but I don't think he'll be too pleased with himself for not stopping Kailer Yamamoto's 32-foot wrist shot that put Seattle on the board. It's one he has to have for his team's sake and he knows it. He allowed seven goals on 24 shots before being pulled with 16:32 left in the third period.
4. The officials missed a too many men on the ice penalty in the first period, and on the same shift I thought they missed a hooking call on Nick Foligno, who was looking for one too. A few minutes later, the Kraken went up 2-0. Tough swing.
5. For the second straight game, the Blackhawks saw a 2-1 deficit go to 3-1 because of an own goal. On Tuesday, it was Nikita Zaitsev who accidentally redirected the puck into his net. In this game, it was Jason Dickinson who inadvertently steered the puck into his net. Brutal luck again, but it could've been avoided if the Blackhawks got the puck out of the zone right before it.
6. In the second period, the Blackhawks moved Lukas Reichel to the first line with Connor Bedard and Philipp Kurashev, presumably to try jumpstarting the 21-year-old struggling forward. In the third, they substituted Kurashev with Tyler Johnson. They're trying anything and everything to get Reichel going at this point.
7. Alex Vlasic left midway through the third period for unknown reasons. For a team that's already without Seth Jones (upper body) and Kevin Korchinski (family matter), they can't afford to lose a player like Vlasic on the back end. Stay tuned for an update.
8. Taylor Raddysh has seemingly been snake-bitten of late, and it was nice to finally see him rewarded with his fifth goal of the season. He's due for a mini hot streak.
9. No power plays for either team through two periods for the second consecutive contest. What's up with that?
10. Connor Bedard's road point streak has officially ended at 10 games. What a run.
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