Philipp Kurashev & Petr Mrazek Impress in Loss to Hurricanes

The Chicago Blackhawks had a chance to win two games in a row for just the third time this season, but the Carolina Hurricanes had other ideas.

Despite falling behind 2-0 in the first period, the visitors came from behind to win 4-3 in overtime.

The Blackhawks are now 3-10-2 following a victory.

The Hurricanes had seven of the first eight shots of the game, but the Blackhawks stuck first.

After prime scoring chances by Nick Foligno and Jason Dickinson , Philipp Kurashev broke the scoreless tie midway through the opening frame.

He pulled a Bertuzzi by dropping to one knee to backhand a Ryan Donato pass past Frederik Andersen .

Tyler Bertuzzi didnt drop to one knee when he doubled the lead later in the frame by banking the puck off Andersens back for his team-leading 17 th goal of the season.

Seth Jarvis got the Hurricanes on the scoreboard early in the second period with a shorthanded goal after Connor Bedard turned the puck over at the offensive blue line.

About six minutes later, Jesperi Kotkaniemi got inside positioning on T.J.

Brodie and tapped home a nice centering pass from Eric Robinson .

The Blackhawks blew a 3-1 second-period lead to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, only to have Seth Jones bail them out with a goal in the final minute of the frame.

Tonight, Donato scored with 18 seconds left to give the home team a 3-2 lead heading into the second intermission.

Carolina carried their dominance into the third period.

With 6:23 left, Jordan Staal and the referee behind the net were the only two who knew the puck was loose behind Petr Mrazek, and the Hurricanes captain swept it over the goal line to tie the game.

In overtime, Sebastian Aho blasted an absolute rocket in the Blackhawks net for the extra point.

Late in the game, Dickinson took a shot off the arm and went right to the bench.

Interim head coach Anders Sorensen said Dickinson should be fine.

If hes not, the Blackhawks will need to look to the Rockford IceHogs for a replacement.

Top Line Remains Dangerous, Fun to Watch The Blackhawks have a real top line for the first time all season.

Since opening night, finding a successful combination for Bedard has been a struggle.

Failure to do so contributed to Luke Richardson s firing in early December.

Bedard and Bertuzzi have been clicking since Sorensen took over behind the bench and put them together.

He added Frank Nazar to that mix midway through last Mondays loss, and the trio has taken off.

Ive been with him now for a good stretch of games, Bedard said of Bertuzzi.

You start to figure out what the other likes to do.

Were building that every game.

Then Frankies been great for us the last two games.

Hes brought a lot to our line.

Hes been fun to play with, and Im excited to keep building that chemistry.

Getting to know their games more, and vice versa.

Sorensen made a minor tweak to the line ahead of tonights game, moving Nazar to the left and Bertuzzi to the right.

Coming out of the D-zone, coming out on your forehand, was the reason for the adjustment.

Berts been really good on the right side, too.

But really, whatever side you arrive on in the D-zone, you stay on.

Its mostly for lineups on faceoffs.

Even though the fourth line produced two goals, the first line was the best on the night.

They had a 46.6 Corsi for percentage (CF%), the highest of any of the forward combinations.

The trio produced a goal, six shots, eight scoring chances, and two high-danger scoring chances.

Philipp Kurashev Makes Most of Opportunity The Kurashev storyline is the biggest disappointment of the 2024-25 Blackhawks season.

To go from a career-high in goals and points to being relegated to the pressbox with chatter that the team is ready to move on is not what was expected.

Hes frustrated, Sorensen said of Kurashev.

We all expected him to get back to the level, or close to it at least, and hes not there.

Today is an opportunity to get back on track.

We can go back and look at a million different things, but where are we right now? This is a new opportunity for him to take a step in the right direction.

Thats how we look at it.

With Pat Maroon and Craig Smith dealing with bad backs, Kurashev was on the fourth line against the Hurricanes.

We havent seen him since the Jan.

10 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

His effort that night left much to be desired and left Sorensen saying, We expect better during his postgame scrum.

So, what exactly does he expect? When hes active and engaged, in terms of battles and engaged on the inside, hes the most effective, Sorensen said ahead of tonights game.

Thats when he gets the most out of his skill set.

Thats what were looking to get out of him.

Kurashev drove to the net for the games opening goal, his fourth of the season and first since his overtime goal against the Minnesota Wild on Nov.

10.

Philipp Kurashev opens the scoring for Chicago, his 4th goal of the season after being a healthy scratch in 4 straight.

That had to feel good.

#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/X3NyObb61G The embattled forward added another point with the secondary assist on Donatos goal.

The fourth line spent a ton of time in their own zone, allowing 25 shot attempts and finishing with a 24.2 CF%, but were not on the ice for a goal against.

They made the most of their limited time on the attack, scoring two goals.

Its nice for me personally, but Ive got to do it again, Kurashev said after the game.

It wasnt always pretty, but it was fun overall.

Sorensen liked what he saw and called his performance an excellent response.

Even if Maroon is good to go, there is no reason to take him out Friday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Petr Mrazek Deserved Better Mrazek was one of two players facing his former team tonight, along with Teuvo Teravainen .

Mrazeks performance is the only reason the Blackhawks have a three-game point streak.

He made a season-high 44 saves in the loss.

His previous season-high was 37 saves.

He was awesome, Hall said of Mrazek.

Hes been really good for a huge portion of the season.

He works hard, and hes always positive.

Hes such a good teammate, so that would have been a nice win to get for him.

Especially playing his former team.

Weve heard this speech before from the Blackhawks locker room for both Mrazek and Arvid Soderblom .

It is another night of wondering what might have been if they had buried one more chance.

This article first appeared on Chicago Hockey Now and was syndicated with permission..

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