NHL
Chicago Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard recorded four points against the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night as the Blackhawks won 5-3 to improve to 5-7. Here’s what you need to know:
WELCOME TO THE CONNOR BEDARD SHOW ‼️ pic.twitter.com/z5sq2vN3kS
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 10, 2023
It’s not as if Bedard had been slumping or anything. He has now put the puck in the net in six of the Blackhawks’ last seven games, with one of them being overturned because of Chicago was a fraction of an inch offside some 30 seconds before the goal. But this was the breakout performance Blackhawks fans were surely waiting for — Bedard in full, simply taking over a game, scoring two goals and handing out two primary assists in 17 minutes and 30 seconds of game time.
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It was Bedard’s first multi-point game, becoming the youngest player since 1944 to have a four-point game, and the third-youngest ever (behind Bep Guidolin and Ted Kennedy). He’s had other games where he’s been dominant with the puck for stretches, but this is the first time it resulted in goal after goal after goal. After goal. — Mark Lazerus, senior NHL writer
We know Bedard is lethal from distance with time and space, with a shot that’s already one of the best in the league. But these four goals were all about his anticipation and hockey sense, his ability to see what’s going to happen before it even does. On the first goal, he sensed Kurashev was going to take the puck out from behind the net and make a pass, so Bedard beat Victor Hedman to the corner of the goalmouth and held off the 6-foot-7, 246-pounder to chip in that pass.
On the next goal, on which Bedard delivered a no-look backhand feed to Johnson on a 2-on-1, Bedard was already breaking out in transition before Foligno even finished creating a turnover in the neutral zone. Next up, Bedard out-hustled Nikita Kucherov to a loose puck at center ice and made a crafty backhand chip to Foligno, immediately turning up ice to join the rush even as he was following through on the pass. No big shots. Just smart plays and quick hands. — Lazerus
Lost amid Bedard’s breakout was the first NHL goal in Kevin Korchinski’s career (the one goal on which Bedard didn’t factor). Korchinski, the No. 7 pick in the 2022 draft, and the player the Blackhawks essentially traded Alex DeBrincat for, has been playing with Seth Jones on the top pairing for the last couple of weeks, and has looked the part.
His first goal won’t be one for the highlight reel — his pass into traffic banked in off a Tampa Bay skate — but it counts all the same. — Lazerus
(Photo: Kim Klement Neitzel / USA Today)
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