NHL: Kraken suffer damaging loss to spoiler Blackhawks

Sacha Boisvert scored his first NHL goal as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated host Seattle 4-2 Saturday night, further damaging the Kraken's dwindling playoff hopes.

Ilya Mikheyev had a goal and an assist, Teuvo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi also tallied and Wyatt Kaiser had two assists for the Blackhawks (28-35-14, 70 points), reduced to the role of spoiler after being eliminated from postseason contention with a 3-1 loss Thursday at Edmonton. Goaltender Arvid Soderblom made 25 saves.

Jaden Schwartz had a goal and an assist and Kaapo Kakko also scored for the Kraken (32-32-11, 75 points), who lost their fourth in a row and for the eighth time in their past nine games to drop into seventh place in the Western Conference's wild-card playoff race, six points out of the second and final spot. Philipp Grubauer stopped 27 of 30 shots.

Schwartz pulled the Kraken within 2-1 at 10:48 of the third period on a counterattack. Eeli Tolvanen drove down the left wing and sent a pass to the top of the crease, where Schwartz outmuscled Kaiser to get his stick on the puck and redirect it over Soderblom's blocker.

Boisvert, the 18th overall pick in the 2024 draft who was playing in just his fifth NHL game, took a pass from Kevin Korchinski in the high slot and beat Grubauer with a one-timer at 13:08 to restore Chicago's two-goal lead.

Kakko scored off a rebound at 14:18 to pull the Kraken within 3-2, but Mikheyev put the puck into an empty net at 18:48 to clinch the victory.

Chicago outshot Seattle 10-4 in a scoreless first period, with all of the Kraken's attempts coming from their defensive corps.

Teravainen opened the scoring on the power play at 9:15 of the second period. He received a pass from Connor Bedard in the left-wing corner and with no defenders facing him, decided to skate the puck to the net. Teravainen jammed the puck between Grubauer's pads and it trickled just over the goal line.

The Blackhawks doubled their advantage at 19:37 of the second on a 3-on-2 rush. Bertuzzi sent a pass to Mikheyev deep on the left wing and headed toward the net. With his back toward the net, Mikheyev sent a backhanded pass into the slot that went off the skate of Seattle's Schwartz and came to a stop just outside the crease. Bertuzzi pounced on the loose puck and lifted it over Grubauer's catching glove and into the upper right corner of the net.

-Field Level Media/Reuters