CHICAGO — There was a reminder for the Kraken early in this Sunday matinee that losing focus even for a shift or two isn’t the best idea.
Despite the Chicago Blackhawks not being anybody’s idea of a contender and getting blitzed early for two quick Kraken goals, they rallied for three of their own in fewer than four minutes of on-ice play to grab an early second period lead. The Kraken, to their credit, responded just 19 seconds after falling behind and but then yielded a pair of late third period goals to lose 5-4 and fall back below the .500 mark.
The tying goal by Matty Beniers just 51 seconds into the middle frame seemed to right the Kraken a bit after a late first period collapse and then an ensuing marker by Vince Dunn right around the game’s midway mark put them ahead. And they held that lead until a pair of goals just 13 seconds apart by Spokane native Tyler Johnson — his second of the game — and Jason Dickinson with about seven minutes to play put Chicago back out front.
Early goals by Jared McCann and Andre Burakovsky fewer than eight minutes into the contest had the Kraken poised to run the Blackhawks out of the rink, especially after being given a late power play in which they seemed to be throwing the puck around well.
But then Dunn lost the puck along the boards and the ensuing odd-man rush led to Chicago’s fourth short-handed goal this season when ex-Kraken forward Colin Blackwell slid the puck across to Jurhar Khaira. The resulting goal was the first ever allowed by the Kraken at the United Center — they had a shutout win here back in March — and also the second short-handed effort yielded off a turnover their past two games.
The Kraken then took a couple of penalties in the closing minutes, the first of them leading to a tying goal by Spokane native Johnson. Kraken goalie Martin Jones, starting in place of the injured Philipp Grubauer, made the initial stop off Seth Jones but the puck went straight to Johnson for an easy shot into the vacated left side of the net.
Burakovsky then took his team’s second penalty with just four seconds remaining in the period and the Blackhawks quickly capitalized after the intermission. Jones made the initial stop on a shot from the point but Max Domi was right there for the rebound to put the Blackhawks ahead 3-2 at the 32-second mark of the middle frame.
Kraken coach Dave Hakstol had spoken last week about brief “lapses” costing his team big in a string of three consecutive losses. In those cases, the margin for those errors was razor thin given the Kraken were in the midst of five straight games against teams considered serious playoff contenders.
They made another costly lapse in Friday’s game against defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado, giving the puck away on the power play and surrendering a tying third period goal. But they overcame that to win in the game’s final eight minutes.
This time, it was the Blackhawks rallying to send the Kraken back below .500 to a record of 2-3-2.
Jaden Schwartz had done some solid work on the tying goal by Beniers, snagging a loose puck in behind the Chicago goal and dishing it back out front to Beniers — who had the equivalent of an open net staring him in the face for the easy goal. McCann likewise did some solid work along the side boards before feeding Dunn, who cruised into the high slot and beat goaltender Alex Stalock with a snap shot to his glove side.
It looked for a long while as if that would be enough. But then the Kraken lapsed again, long enough for Johnson to find the puck uncovered in front of the net and bury it to launch the home side toward a winning rally.
This story will be updated.