It's not looking good for the Chicago Blackhawks.
It's 18 games into a season that was meant to represent a rounding of the corner for the rebuilding squad, but with a 4-13-1 record and in the midst of a six-game skid, so far it's been the same sordid story for the basement-dwelling Blackhawks.
It got worse on Saturday night, falling 9-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes in a loss captain Connor Bedard called "embarrassing."
"It's embarrassing to lose like that," the 21-year-old said to reporters. "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."
Jordan Martinook scored two of Carolina’s four first-period goals, while Andrei Svechnikov added two goals, and Seth Jarvis, Jackson Blake, Sebastian Aho, Shayne Gostisbehere and Alexander Nikishin, making his season debut, also had goals. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Eric Robinson and William Carrier all had two assists for the NHL-best Hurricanes, who’ve won six of their last seven games.
The nine goals tied the Carolina franchise record since relocating from Hartford, Connecticut, in 1997.
Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 18 shots in his first outing since his franchise-record 10-game winning streak ended Tuesday in Nashville.
The Blackhawks have a six-game losing streak and have lost nine of 10. Chicago goalie Spencer Knight was pulled with 9:24 remaining in the second period after allowing six goals on 17 shots. Arvid Soderblom stopped 12 shots in relief.
"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," Bedard continued. "What we’ve been able to do really well is every practice, every pre-game 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."
Trailing 7-0, Roman Kantserov and Bedard scored in the third period for the Blackhawks, with Alex Vlasic assisting on both goals. Kantserov has an eight-game points streak.
Jarvis scored 1:34 into the game. After Blake’s goal, Martinook completed the first-period scoring.
Shortly after the midway mark of the second period, the Hurricanes led 6-0 while the Blackhawks had eight shots on goal.
Nikishin, a defenceman who was unsigned when the season began, had a shot make it through traffic for Carolina’s seventh goal and he later added an assist. He was named to the NHL All-Rookie team last season with the Stanley Cup champions.
The Hurricanes have outscored their last two visiting opponents by a combined 16-2 after defeating the Winnipeg Jets 7-0 on Sunday.
Up Next
Blackhawks: Host Buffalo on Thursday.
Hurricanes: Travel to Finland for games Thursday and Saturday vs. Seattle.
— With files from Associated Press
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