Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno calls out teammates after loss to Kraken
The Chicago Blackhawks are struggling mightily to score goals in 2024-25, and the team's lack of offensive production was on full display in a 3-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.
The Hawks have now scored just a single regulation goal in four consecutive games — three of them losses — and star forward Connor Bedard hasn't found the back of the net in his last eight tries. Now 6-10-1, the squad is reeling — and captain Nick Foligno is not at all happy .
"(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," Foligno told the Chicago Sun-Times' Ben Pope after the defeat. "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."
Chicago managed just 19 shots on Kraken netminder Joey Daccord, with Ryan Donato the lone Hawks player finding the back of the net. He leads the club with eight goals on the season.
It was another miserable offensive performance for a team that has scored just 41 goals this season — good enough for 29th in the National Hockey League.
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With three losses in their last four and now eight of 12 dating back to October 19, it's looking like the rebuild could take a little bit longer than anticipated in the Windy City.
Besides the obvious lack of offense, head coach Luke Richardson was also unpleased with Chicago's compete level in Seattle on Thursday.
"The stick battles (were) more concerning to me than the shot clock," the bench boss said, per Pope. "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."
The Blackhawks fell into a 2-0 hole early in the third period before Donato got them on the board 3:22 into the final frame. Kraken forward Brandon Tanev would score into the empty net with just under 20 seconds remaining to seal it.
Richardson continued: "I don't think the first period was terrible. I thought we got more frustrated in the second period. I think we had a lack of execution on hitting the net. We had three good line rushes in the first where we missed the net by big margins, which doesn't show up on the shot clock, and it frustrates the team."
Although it's still quite early, the panic meter is certainly rising for a Blackhawks team that just can't score goals. Bedard needs to get going if this roster is going to turn things around, but the depth pieces also need to be more productive.
Now seventh in the Central and tied with the Nashville Predators for the least amount of points in the division, the Blackhawks are just battling to stay out of the basement.
They'll look to right the ship against the Vancouver Canucks in British Columbia on Saturday night.
