CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: NBCSCH+ – Chris Vosters (PxP) and Troy Murray (analyst)
RADIO: WGN-AM 720 – John Wiedeman (PxP) and Joe Brand (analyst)
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Monday, April 10 vs. MIN, 8:00 p.m. CT (ESPN, WGN Radio, Univision (Spanish))
Tuesday, April 11 at PIT, 6:30 p.m. CT (NBCSCH, WGN Radio)
Thursday, April 13 vs. PHI, 7:30 p.m. CT (NBCSCH, WGN Radio, Univision (Spanish))
End of Season
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
April 1 – Activated Jonathan Toews from IR … March 29 – Assigned Mike Hardman to Rockford
LAST TIME OUT
Score: Chicago (0) at Vancouver (3) – Thu., April 6 – Rogers Arena
CHI Goals:
VAN Goals: Kuzmenko (38), Kravtsov (4; PP), Miller (30; EN)
Goalies: CHI – Stalock (26/28, 59:15) VAN – Thatcher (33/33, 60:00)
CHI PP: 0/3; PK: 2/3
VAN PP: 1/3; PK: 3/3
Recap: Chicago fell to the Canucks 3-0 on Thursday in Vancouver … Reese Johnson posted a game-high six hits while Caleb Jones and Jujhar Khaira each posted five … Seth Jones paced all skaters in ice time with 24:48 … Boris Katchouk and Tyler Johnson each recorded a team-high four shots.
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT – SEATTLE KRAKEN
The Blackhawks square off against Seattle on Saturday in the final of three matchups during the 2022-23 campaign … Chicago earned their first home win against Seattle this season on Oct. 23 in a 5-4 regulation victory and fell 8-5 on Jan. 14 … Seth Jones has recorded multi-assist efforts (5A) in both games against Seattle this season and has six points (1G,5A) in four career games against the Kraken … Taylor Raddysh registered a three-point night (1G, 2A) on Jan. 14 and has four points (1G, 3A) over his last two contests against Seattle … Jonathan Toews posted two points (1G, 1A) in his last game against the Kraken on Jan. 14 and has three points (1G, 2A) over his last two games against the club … Colin Blackwell was claimed by Seattle in the Expansion Draft in 2021.
2022-23 Schedule/Results: HOME: Oct. 23 (5-4), Jan. 14 (5-8) | AWAY: April 8
All-Time Record: 2-2-1 | Home: 1-2-0 | Road: 1-0-1
Last Home Win: Oct. 23, 2022 (5-4) | Last Road Win: Nov. 17, 2021 (4-2) | Last Home Loss: Jan. 14,
2023 (5-8) Last Road Loss: Jan. 17, 2022 (2-3 SO)
ACTIVE BLACKHAWKS VS. SEA ALL-TIME
GOALS: Tyler Johnson, 2; six players tied with 1
ASSISTS: Seth Jones, 5; Taylor Raddysh, 3; Jonathan Toews, 2
POINTS: Seth Jones, 6; Taylor Raddysh, 4; Jonathan Toews, 3
BLACKHAWKS RECORD ON…
One-Day Rest: 13-24-1
Two-Days Rest: 6-5-0
Three+ Days Rest: 2-2-2
First Game of a B2B: 2-6-2
Second Game of a B2B: 1-11-1
BLACKHAWKS RECORD BY DAY
Monday: 1-3-0
Tuesday: 5-9-1
Wednesday: 1-7-0
Thursday: 5-8-1
Friday: 5-2-2
Saturday: 5-11-1
Sunday: 3-7-1
SEATTLE KRAKEN NOTES:
LAST GAME
Arizona 2 at Seattle 4
Goals: McCann, Dunn, Eberle, Beniers
Goalie: Grubauer (27/29)
PP: 0/4 PK: 2/2 Shots: Arizona 29 – Seattle 33
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 225)
Joonas Donskoi (upper body; IR) – 78 games – no timeline for return
Andre Burakovsky (lower body) – 28 games – week-to-week
John Hayden (lower body) – 9 games – week-to-week
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A
UPCOMING GAMES
Monday, April 10: Seattle at Arizona, 7 p.m. PT
Tuesday, April 11: Seattle at Vegas, 7 p.m. PT
Thursday, April 13: Vegas at Seattle, 7 p.m. PT
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• Tonight’s matchup is the final of three games the Kraken will play against the Blackhawks this season and the first time the two teams are playing in Seattle.
• Tonight’s game is also the 23rd of 24 games the Kraken will play against Central Division teams this season, with Seattle holding an 12-4-6 record against the Central Division this year.
• Since Feb. 14, the Kraken have gone 59-for-66 on the penalty kill. Their 89.4 percent success rate on the penalty kill during that span is the third-best mark in the league.
• Vince Dunn, who has already set a career high with 64 points (14 goals, 50 assists) this season, enters tonight’s game ranked second on the Kraken in scoring. He is ranked in the top 10 among all NHL defensemen in goals (tied ninth), assists (10th), points (10th), even-strength goals (14, second) and even-strength points (49, second). The next game that Dunn plays in will be his 79th of the season, setting a career high.
• Jared McCann has been playing at a point-per-game pace dating back to Jan. 10, totaling 39 points (19 goals, 20 assists) in 39 games. His 39 points during that span are leading all Kraken skaters.
• Daniel Sprong has already set a career high in goals (20), assists (23) and points (43) this season. He is ranked fifth in the NHL in points per 60 (3.13) at five-on-five among players that have played in at least three games.
• Jaden Schwartz became the Kraken’s fourth 20-goal scorer of the season with a goal in the Kraken’s game on April 4 at Vancouver, joining Jared McCann (38), Matty Beniers (23) and Daniel Sprong (20). Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jordan Eberle both enter tonight’s game with 19 goals each.
• With the Kraken’s four-goal outing in their game on March 3 against Columbus, they surpassed their goal total from all of last season in 20 fewer games. Seattle has scored 276 goals in 78 games this season compared to 213 goals in 2021-22. The team’s 276 goals this season are tied for fifth in the NHL.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
• The Kraken earned their first playoff berth in franchise history with a 4-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes in the team’s last game on April 6. Entering play Saturday, the Kraken were one of two teams (New Jersey) to earn a berth to the 2022-23 Stanley Cup Playoffs after not qualifying for the postseason in 2021-22.
• With the Kraken’s win over the Coyotes, they also set a record for wins by an expansion team (44) in its second season since the Original Six era (1967-68). The team’s 86 points this year are also a league record for an expansion team in its second season since the Original Six era (1967-68).
• With their win over the Predators on March 25, the Kraken improved their point total to 88, a 28-point improvement from last season. Their 28-point improvement set an NHL record for the largest point improvement by and expansion team from its first to its second season since the Original Six era (1967-68).
• The Kraken enter tonight’s game with 13 players that have scored at least 10 goals, the most in the NHL. If Jamie Oleksiak, who has nine goals, were to score tonight, Seattle would become the first team to have 14 players score 10 or more goals in a season since the Detroit Red Wings did so in 1995-96 according to NHL Stats.
BLAKCHAWKS DOWN
• The Kraken recorded their first shootout victory in franchise history with a 3-2 win over Chicago on Jan. 17, 2022 in Seattle. Seattle also posted its second-ever shutout against the Blackhawks on April 7, 2022 in Chicago, with Philipp Grubauer making 29 saves in the 2-0 Kraken win.
• Matty Beniers has three points (two goals, one assist) in two career games against the Blackhawks and has scored in both games he has played against the Blackhawks.
• Ryan Donato has four points (one goal, three assists) in his last four games against Chicago.
• Jordan Eberle has tallied five points (one goal, four assists) in the five games he has played against the Blackhawks as a member of the Kraken.
• Yanni Gourde has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in his last 14 games against Chicago, including notching a four-point night (two goals, two assists) on March 7, 2021, which remains tied for his single-game career high.
• Jared McCann has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in his last eight games against the Blackhawks including scoring his first-ever hat trick in the two teams’ last meeting on Jan. 14.
• Jaden Schwartz has totaled 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in his last 14 games against the Blackhawks dating back to the start of the 2017-18 season and enters tonight’s game riding a four-game point streak against Chicago.
• Alex Wennberg (one goal, two assists) and Oliver Bjorkstrand (two goals, one assist) each have three points (one goal, two assists) in their last three games against the Blackhawks.
