Blackhawks' scoring drought worsens in loss to Kraken

SEATTLE — The Blackhawks have fallen into a deep offensive rut.

A 3-1 loss Thursday against the Kraken marked their fourth consecutive game scoring just one regulation goal. They're lucky to have gotten even one win out of that stretch.

"[It's about] wanting to score, wanting to get in the hard areas, wanting to make a difference, wanting to be around the net and pay a price," captain Nick Foligno said. "We just don’t have enough guys wanting to do that. ... Tonight, especially after the way we set things up to have a few days off and feel good and get ready, it’s too bad."

The vast majority of Hawks games this season have followed one of two possible scripts: Either they struggle for two periods and push in the third, or they play well for two periods before falling onto their heels in the third.

Thursday followed the former script. They mustered just four shots on goal through the first half of the game — missing the net on their only semi-decent looks — but then pushed hard after Ryan Donato, their most consistent performer, hustled to knock in their lone goal with 16:38 left.

The Kraken, who initially built a 2-0 lead with goals by Matty Beniers and Jaden Schwartz despite losing captain Jordan Eberle to injury, added an empty-netter when Seth Jones and Connor Bedard fumbled a last-second breakout. They've beaten the Hawks by a combined 23-7 margin in their last four visits to Seattle.

"When you don't play 60 minutes in a game, you're not going to get those bounces," coach Luke Richardson said. "So that's what we probably deserved at the end.

"The stick battles [were] more concerning to me than the shot clock. In the 50/50 battles, they were more hungry than we were. When you come out with those, you're going to have more shots — and we're going to have less, because they have the puck way more."

Bedard was visibly frustrated after that final play. Heading into his first career "homecoming game" Saturday in Vancouver, the teenage star has gone eight consecutive games without a goal, and he hasn't generated many scoring chances at all in the last few.

"He's probably feeling it a little bit and wants to score, but I know he can definitely turn it the other way and get just as hot," Donato said. "When he is hot and feeling good, he can be one of the most dominant guys in the league. I hope he continues to stay positive and continues to work hard. He's one of the hardest workers I've ever met, so I don't think that's going to be a problem."

Martinez returns

An injury that nagged Hawks defenseman Alec Martinez during training camp "evolved" into the right groin injury that cost him 12 regular-season games.

"Injuries are an unfortunate part of our game, but everyone gets them and everyone goes through them, so it's just part of it," Martinez said Wednesday. "I'm just excited to be back."

He finally returned Thursday, logging a sizable 19:32 of ice time back on the top pairing with Seth Jones.

"He looked fine," Richardson said. "We knew he would be that when he came back."

Travel-weary

After facing the Canucks on Saturday, the Hawks will have completed 22% of their overall regular-season schedule: 18 out of 82 games.

However, after flying all the way home that night, they will have completed 29% of their road schedule (12 of 41 games) and 34% of their total travel distance this season (roughly 14,191 miles out of 41,464).

That's a result of the team having three western road trips within the first five weeks of the season, going as far west as Utah and Alberta on the first trip and out to California on the second. Following their Vancouver-to-Chicago journey Saturday night — the Hawks' longest of the season at 1,772 miles — the Hawks will have already knocked out five of their nine longest flights, as well as 10 of their 21 flights between cities further than 800 miles apart.

The Hawks will return to Vancouver in March for a slightly less ballyhooed Bedard homecoming, but in general, their 2025 schedule is much more focused on the Eastern Conference. Players, coaches and reporters alike will appreciate the shorter travel on those eastern trips.

In April alone — during the last two weeks of the season — the Hawks will make their once-a-year visits to five eastern cities: Washington, Pittsburgh, Boston, Montreal and Ottawa, the site of the season finale.

Number-curious

After practice Wednesday, it was surprising to hear Taylor Hall say he had seen the impressive statistics about his offensive zone-entry rates. After all, most players shun in-depth analytics like those.

Hall, however, is an especially smart and inquisitive player. His baseball fandom might also affect his interest in the numbers.

"I can understand them pretty well," Hall said. "I don't look at them a lot because ignorance is bliss sometimes; not every analytic number is super favorable. But I work with a guy on the side, and he sends me some videos just for me personally. He illustrated to me that some of the numbers I have are ranked pretty high in the league."

This and that

Andreas Athanasiou scored two goals in his first AHL game in eight years Wednesday, but Rockford suffered their fourth straight loss to fall to 3-7-0. Their roster is very young and might take some time to find a rhythm. Athanasiou, meanwhile, will probably dominate that level.

Former Hawks depth forward Adam Gaudette, now with the Senators, has become one of the early-season's most surprising NHL success stories. He scored his seventh goal in 15 games Thursday.

The same isn't true for Alex Nylander, who produced a similarly surprising hot streak for the Blue Jackets late last season but has been stuck on the Maple Leafs' AHL affiliate so far this season.