At least this time the Chicago Blackhawks didn’t have a problem with their start to a game.

It was the finish that almost went awry against the Seattle Kraken.

Fortunately for the Hawks, they had a second act squared away in the second period.

The Hawks scored twice, enough to withstand a third-period goal by Tye Kartye, and held on to win 4-3 on Tuesday at the United Center.

“Taking two out of the three at home was great,” coach Luke Richardson said. “The guys were really determined today to get a win and go onto the road with a winning attitude. Maybe something like that can propel us.”

Boris Katchouk scored for a second straight game, and Jason Dickinson scored his fifth goal in the last four games. Seth Jones recorded his 300th career assist on Katchouk’s goal.

The Hawks racing out to a 2-0 lead — instead of the other way around — was promising, but they gave up two Kraken goals — including a short-hander by Alex Wennberg — before the first intermission.

But they bounced back in the second with goals from Tyler Johnson and MacKenzie Entwistle, with Entwistle’s proving pivotal for the win.

Nick Foligno issued a gut-check to the team after a 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Sunday, but he sang a different tune Tuesday.

“I was really proud of the guys,” he said. “It’s nice to see when you have a commitment and a focus of what you’re trying to be.

“Even when we wavered and (it) looks like we’re kind of giving them some goals, we just (snapped his fingers) find our way back again. That’s what a winning mindset means. Like, all right, we screwed up here, but we’re not going to let it affect us, we’re not going to keep going down that road. We’re going to right ourselves and get back to winning habits.”

Here are five takeaways from the win.

After scoring Sunday against the Blues, fourth-liner Katchouk struck again.

He scored the opening goal on a wrister off Ryan Donato’s rebound. Third-liners Dickinson and Entwistle also added goals. Dickinson has been on a tear the last week.

“You’re seeing contributions from everybody,” Foligno said. “So it’s nice to see our back end is getting in on some plays. When you have that, when you have it spread out, it just makes you that much more of a dangerous team.

Added Richardson: “We need to get ourselves just playing simple, one-on-one hockey, shooting the puck, going to the net, and that’s what Boris did on that first goal.”

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The Hawks did about as many wrong things as possible in the sequence that led to Wennberg’s shorty.

When Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer shoveled the puck from behind his net to Adam Larsson, all four Hawks forwards were in the offensive zone.

Larsson had no problem stretching a pass to Wennberg behind them and helped put Kevin Korchinski on the business end of a two-on-one.

As Wennberg carried the puck from right to left, Connor Bedard twisted himself around while trying to poke the puck from behind. Korchinski braced himself for a shot from the slot that never came, and Korchinski and Johnson slid over to defend a potential backdoor pass to Eeli Tolvanen.

But Wennberg kept the puck and simply slipped behind Mrázek after the goalie lurched too far out of the crease to defend him.

“We kind of forced the issue on the breakout and turned it over,” Richardson said. “We’re getting frustrated on the power play, we have to simplify a little bit more, and what you do is you tractor beam on that puck and you’re not looking at two guys turning up quick behind you.”

Richardson said forwards also have to remember when to protect Korchinski: “Sort of like a second D.”

“I don’t think we did that on that opportunity and they made us pay,” he said.

Foligno was back on the first line with Bedard and Philipp Kurashev, but the role he plays behind the scenes could be of even more significance.

With Taylor Hall (knee) out for the season and Corey Perry waived for “unacceptable” conduct, Foligno remains the biggest name the Hawks brought in this summer to influence team culture.

“It’s big,” rookie Bedard said. “Not just for the young guys but for everyone. He’s been in the league for a long time and he’s been on winning teams and been the captain of good teams.

“Hearing what he has to say and hearing what he, from his experiences, what he knows to be successful, it’s good for us. For myself, only playing 19-20 games in the league so far, to have somebody like that is great.”

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The Hawks traded a conditional fifth-round pick to the Vancouver Canucks for forward Anthony Beauvillier. The 26-year-old has recorded two goals and six assists in 22 games.

Richardson was an assistant coach on the New York Islanders in 2017-18 when Beauvillier had 21 goals and 15 assists.

“It was his second year, still a young guy,” Richardson said. “He’s definitely a little spitfire out there. He can skate, he can shoot, he brings energy.”

Richardson said Beauvillier can serve in a number of roles.

“He’s played some time on the power play and he had a fairly good, balanced year last year (nine goals and 11 assists each with the Islanders and the Vancouver Canucks),” he said. “Hopefully he brings some consistency and maybe some extra scoring, which we could use.”

Meanwhile, defenseman Jarred Tinordi (oblique) might be close to returning from injured reserve.

“He’s planning on going on the trip and he’s had some really good last few days,” Richardson said. “We’ll just start ramping him up, light physicality then heavier physicality and then hopefully he gets cleared real soon.”

Andreas Athanasiou, who has missed eight games with a groin injury, is another matter. Richardson estimated the center could be ready in early December.

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Since his call-up, Anderson has three assists over his first three games, including two against the Kraken.

He was on ice for five goals and has a plus-four rating.

“Anderson has been unbelievable since he’s been here, just a great player and a great fit for our group right now and understands what he’s brought in here to do and he’s done it,” Foligno said.

Richardson also gave Anderson high marks.

“He’s coming in at the top of his game, he was leading Rockford in scoring (seven goals and nine assists in 14 games), and he’s just a hockey player,” he said. “He works hard, he’s got good intelligence out there and he’s determined.

“He stole a puck and outworked someone in the corner and went around the net and fed Entwistle on the goal, and he probably should’ve scored not long before that in front of the net.

“Those guys are heart-and-soul guys.”

Originally Published: Nov 29, 2023 at 10:41 am