Chicago Blackhawks suffer ’embarrassing’ 9-2 loss — their 6th straight defeat and 9th in 10 games
· Yahoo Sports
RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina State football team, which plays across the street from the Lenovo Center, did not score a touchdown Saturday in its 41-3 loss to Duke.
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The Carolina Hurricanes outscored the Wolfpack — at the expense of the Chicago Blackhawks.
The defending champion Hurricanes made easy work of the Hawks, scoring the first seven goals in a 9-2 rout. It was the Hawks’ worst loss since New Year’s Eve 2023.
The defeat capped an 0-3 trip in which the Hawks (4-13-1) were outscored 18-6. It was their sixth straight loss and ninth in 10 games. They remain winless away from the United Center at 0-8-1.
“There’s frustration all the time when you’re waking up, when you’re going to bed, you’re thinking about the record and the hole that we’re in,” captain Connor Bedard said. “What we’ve been able to do really well is every practice, every pregame skate, every lunch, dinner, every time we hang out, we still have that camaraderie and have that joy to be at the rink.
“But at the end of the day, it’s a results league and we’ve got to be better. There’s nothing else to it.”
After the game, the Hawks held a lengthy players meeting.
“Getting the frustration out, everybody speaking their mind and trying to get to the reality of it: What’s the spot we’re in? How do we get better? How do we get out of it?” defenseman Wyatt Kaiser said. “Day off tomorrow and then get back to it Monday and see what we can do.
Added Bedard: “(The meeting gave) ourselves a chance to get some frustration out and talk with each other, see what everyone’s thinking. I say it a lot — there’s a lot of belief and a lot of love for each other, we’re a very tight-knit group. It’s been a tough start. It’s not what we expected.”
The loss came in Jeff Blashill’s 100th game as Hawks coach. He’s 33-52-15 since being hired in May 2025 and has a 237-313-87 career record with the Hawks and Detroit Red Wings (2015-22).
The Hawks are still in the thick of a rebuild, but they have taken a step back even from Blashill’s first season, when they finished 29-39-14. How hot is the coach’s seat?
“Honestly, it’s not anything I’ve thought about,” Blashill, 52, said. “I got a lot of trust in those guys in that room (and) I think they have a lot of trust in me and our staff.
“Same thing would go with management back and forth. … All I’m thinking about right now is trying to find the solutions we (need) moving forward, get us onto a roll where we start winning more hockey games.”
It took the Hurricanes (14-3-2) only 1 minute, 34 seconds to sound the horn on right wing Seth Jarvis’s wrist shot. The hosts had a field day with the Hawks defense, with wings Jackson Blake and Jordan Martinook (twice) finding the net for a 4-0 Hurricanes lead after one period.
“It’s hard because everybody wants to win, everybody’s trying to win,” Kaiser said. “There’s a level of effort that obviously you need to win, and I don’t know if we had it a lot of the game.”
The Canes carried a 7-0 lead into the second intermission after forwards Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho and defenseman Alexander Nikishin added to their goal totals. Seven Hurricanes scored Saturday.
They chased Spencer Knight after Aho’s goal put the Hawks in a 6-0 hole. Knight saved 11 of 17 shots, and backup Arvid Söderblom allowed three goals on 16 shots.
Roman Kantserov ended the shutout bid at 5:56 of the third. It was his fourth straight game with a goal and eighth consecutive with at least one point. His nine goals lead all NHL rookies.
Bedard scored his fifth goal to add to his team-leading 14 points. Unsurprisingly, he did not celebrate.
“I’m not going to be cellying when it’s 7-0,” Bedard said. “It’s embarrassing to lose like that. We give up nine and especially we leave our goalies out to dry like that and the way they’ve played for us, battled for us, it’s hard.
“Any guy would say the same — tonight was tough, it’s 9-2. It’s not rocket science. It’s not good enough, and we know that.”
The Hurricanes answered with two late goals from defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and Svechnikov to cap the scoring. Artyom Levshunov and Kaiser took the brunt of the beatdown, finishing a minus-6.
“It’s tough (to keep your head up), but it’s part of the job and you’ve got to find a way to battle back and try to win,” Kaiser said. “You have pride — everybody is trying to win, the league is too good. If you feel bad for yourself, you’re going to go in and get killed every night.”
The Hawks have four days off before their next game Thursday against the Buffalo Sabres at the United Center. Is it enough time to figure things out?
“Four days is a long time in the middle of the season, (but you) kind of just wish you played tomorrow (to) give yourself another chance,” Bedard said. “It’s four days to regroup and try to start a new season, almost.
“It’s almost 20 games in — the season’s young, we’re not throwing the towel in or anything. We believe in ourselves. We’re going to fight every game, fight every 60 minutes. lt’s just about getting the wins.”