The Chicago Blackhawks gave up a one-goal lead in the third period and the Seattle Kraken prevailed 3-2 in a shootout to halt the host team’s six-game losing streak.
The loss wasted an otherwise masterful performance by Hawks goaltender Marc-André Fleury, who finished with 35 saves.
In the shootout, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane couldn’t get the best of Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer, while Ryan Donato and Joonas Donskoi beat Fleury.
The Hawks received a point in the standings but saw their four-game winning streak end.
“Let’s take the point and get on the plane and get out of here before they change their mind,” Hawks coach Derek King said. “It’s probably a good thing Flower was on his game because he got us a point tonight. We were sloppy.
“There were moments where we looked good and there were moments where we made tired mistakes. I think we were tired. The travel was a little bit crazy for us, so we’re going to have to get these guys plenty of rest.”
Hawks winger Dominik Kubalík scored for the third straight game and Brandon Hagel scored on the power play for his second straight game with a goal and third straight with a point since returning from the COVID-19 protocols.
Despite allowing two goals in regulation, Fleury was in prime form while shutting down some premium looks.
“Flower, we got a point because of him,” Hawks defenseman Jake McCabe said. “He was phenomenal tonight, per usual.”
After a lackluster first period in which the Kraken hogged the puck but couldn’t score, intensity picked up for both sides in the second period, starting with Kubalík’s breakaway goal with 7:54 left.
Erik Gustafsson made a brilliant sliding poke check on Donato, got to his feet and dished up the ice to Kubalík, who came down the slot and ripped it by Grubauer.
“Right away when I got the pass from Gus, I knew I was going to try to shoot high blocker,” Kubalík said. “Happy it went in.”
Gustafsson returned from quarantine Thursday, the same as Hagel, and he has racked up four assists in three games.
The Kraken evened the score about three minutes later. Vince Dunn’s equalizer deflected off Riley Stillman and ricocheted in off the crossbar.
But the Hawks regained the lead about two minutes later. Kubalík tried to redirect Kane’s pass, then knocked the rebound over to Hagel, who swept in the loose puck.
Kubalík typically is the one looking to be set up for a shot, but his willingness lately to bang in front of the net has paid off for the Hawks.
“You’ve got to create your own luck to be in those dirty areas,” he said. “It hurts out there but you can get those easy — I don’t want to say tap-ins — but it can touch your shin pad or your stick and that happened today. I found a way to get the rebound and Hags had an empty net.”
Donato tied it 2:02 into the third period with an unassisted goal.
“They took over the game in the third, and that second goal’s a tough one for me personally to swallow,” said McCabe, who saw Donato blow past him at the blue line. “Kind of stuck in no-man’s land, giving up a two-on-one. … That’s a tough situation to put our team in.”
Fleury helped keep the Hawks even with consecutive saves against Jared McCann while the Hawks were short-handed, including a sliding glove save after Jordan Eberle’s back-door pass.
“I didn’t see a replay of that McCann back-door play when we were short-handed,” McCabe said, “but had to have been one of the saves of the year.”
Kubalík said he watched the replay from the bench and thought: “What is he doing out there? It’s unbelievable.”
With 61/2 minutes left, Fleury made a pad save on McCann’s penalty shot — Calvin de Haan was called for tripping — and emphatically swatted away the puck.
Fleury denied Donskoi with 19 seconds left in regulation.
There were some harrowing moments in overtime as the Kraken dominated the puck, but Fleury preserved the Hawks’ hopes.
He body-blocked Eberle’s attempted game-winner, then got some help from Connor Murphy in keeping the puck from leaking in. Fleury denied Dunn twice and patted the goal post when he got some help from the iron.
