Blackhawks' can't keep up momentum, fall to Kings

There have been some strange things going on with the Blackhawks of late.

For one, they're winning.

This had been a foreign concept for most of the season, but coach Luke Richardson's squad has reeled off six victories in eight games since a horrid 2-20-1 stretch that spanned more than two months.

The other oddity is that the Hawks are thriving despite a quiet stretch by Patrick Kane.

So what's going on?

"We've asked them to battle harder in practice and (have) harder sticks on plays, and they've implemented that into execution with the puck offensively," coach Luke Richardson said before the Hawks dropped a 2-1 decision to the Kings at the United Center on Sunday. "It's bringing us together."

Incredibly, nine different players have scored 2 or 3 goals over this 6-2-0 stretch. Included on that list are under-the-radar forwards like Philipp Kurashev, Sam Lafferty and Reese Johnson.

Plenty of others have stepped up as well, including Seth Jones (2G, 8A last eight games), Jonathan Toews (2G, 5A), Max Domi (3G, 4A), Tyler Johnson (2G, 4A) and Taylor Raddysh (2G, 4A).

Let's not forget about Jake McCabe, either. The veteran defenseman has teamed up with Jones to form a true No. 1 pairing. He has blocked 13 shots and dished out 20 hits in the last eight contests.

"I just think we had so many losses in a row and eventually you become a little numb and want to just say 'screw it' and play with a little more ease," said defenseman Connor Murphy. "It seemed like we were doing that with some of those wins and trusting that some goals were gonna come and they did. And our goalies were playing unbelievable.

"So that confidence in each other builds (after) we went through some lows."

The Hawks (14-27-4) couldn't keep the momentum up against the Kings (26-17-6) as they were outshot 9-3 in the first period, 21-10 after two and 27-19 for the game. The Hawks' first shot didn't come for nearly 15½ minutes.

"We just couldn't find our game," Richardson said.

Los Angeles took a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals from forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan.

Moments before the first tally at 9:29 of the first period, a Kings player tripped Johnson in the Hawks' offensive zone. No penalty was called, however, and Anderson-Dolan ripped home a rebound to put the Kings on the board.

"We had the same penalty called against us last night with McCabe," Richardson said when asked if some players may have slowed up a bit. "I think that's why the guys were thinking that's a penalty. But you have to keep playing. You have to play to the whistle."

Johnson re-aggravated an ankle injury and played just 4:07. He will not travel on the upcoming three-game road trip.

The Hawks clawed within 2-1 with 3:15 remaining on Ian Mitchell's first goal since May 3, 2021. The tally revved up the United Center, but the equalizer never came.

Petr Mrazek made 25 saves, 10 of which came during a hectic seven-minute stretch in the second period.

"(The Kings) had the puck a lot of the first two periods, which is frustrating," Richardson said. "We were just a little bit slow in reacting and a little tired looking in our defensive play. ... So we couldn't generate a lot of offense in the first two periods.

"But to their credit ... we put a bit of a flurry on at the end."