LOS ANGELES — In most ways, the Blackhawks are punching above their weight talent-wise this season.
They absorbed a punch in the form of a five-game losing streak and are now riding another point streak, which they extended to three games Thursday with a 2-1 road win over the Kings. A 12-9-6 record in early December is better than anyone outside their locker room expected.
On the penalty kill specifically, though, the Hawks are punching right at their weight, not above it. They are legitimately stacked with superb killers, and those superb killers are delivering consistent results.
Another five-for-five performance Thursday, including a game-sealing kill for the final 86 seconds of the game, moved the Hawks up to fourth in the league at 85.3% this season. Since Nov. 5, they’re at 90.7%, having killed 39 of 43 opportunities during that span.
“We’ve got really good penalty-killers that have bought into the system, but the system is less important than the buy-in,” coach Jeff Blashill said.
Leading the bunch is Ilya Mikheyev, who has emerged as a truly elite player in those situations — a “one-man machine,” as Blashill put it. He relentlessly hounds power-play puck-carriers all over the ice, not just in the defensive zone.
“Mikheyev is right up there with some of the really good killers in the league,” Blashill added. “And he does it in a different way than some guys. Some guys do it just with their head or the cerebral way. He certainly can think [well], but he’s just so explosive on pucks and wins so many puck battles because his compete level is so high. He takes great pride in it, and he’s been excellent at it.”
Forwards Jason Dickinson and Teuvo Teravainen are also stellar. Teravainen lost teeth blocking a shot during the final minute Thursday; Blashill said he’s in “a lot of pain” but will be fine.
Defensemen Alex Vlasic, Louis Crevier and Connor Murphy, meanwhile, use their length effectively to cover more ground than most men could when shorthanded. Wyatt Kaiser uses his agility to do the same.
Analytically, the Hawks’ penalty kill has allowed the second-fewest goals, eighth-fewest scoring chances and fifth-fewest shot attempts per minute.
“On the entries, we’re really gapping up hard and not really giving [our opponents] a lot of options,” Kaiser said. “It starts there, killing a lot of time, and then you frustrate them. They start trying to force little things. And then in-zone, we’re sticking to doing our jobs.”
The Hawks benefited from an enormous swing late in the second period Thursday. Murphy saved a goal on one end after goalie Spencer Knight misplayed the puck, then Kaiser buried his first goal of the season with five seconds left.
GOAL: Wyatt Kaiser FIVE-HOLE RIP late in the period! pic.twitter.com/J4LzqUus0y
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) December 5, 2025
Knight (26 saves) allowed one goal in the third, but the Hawks showed they’ve learned from their lead-squandering mistakes during the past month. They continued to play offense instead of sitting back before eventually letting their penalty kill close things out.
“It’s really important for us to be in those tight games,” Knight said. “It’s the way hockey’s going to be, the longer you play into the season. If you eventually get to the postseason, that’s how it is. [When] all the pressure is on, you have to know how to hold that lead. It was good for us.”