Double Trouble: Connor Bedard, Nick Foligno Both Leave Tonight’s Game

When it rains, it pours. For the Chicago Blackhawks lately, it’s been a monsoon of injuries. Now, it’s befallen their best player, Connor Bedard.

Recently named to the all-star team, Bedard was hit in the first period and immediately went to the locker room, holding his mouth. While it could just be a shot to the chops that loosened or knocked out a few teeth, you could hear or feel the collective groan across Blackhawks Nation after the team announced he wouldn’t return to the game.

Connor Bedard will not return to tonight’s game following this hit from Brendan Smith. #Blackhawkspic.twitter.com/RD9sZ5dmIs

— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) January 6, 2024

Hit on Connor Bedard Was Clean

Now it wasn’t as if hit illegally. Brendan Smith’s hit was clean, and one where for a split second, Bedard’s eyes and head were down–and then Bedard was down.

He popped up, holding his mouth but wouldn’t return. The game from there would get very chippy, which included a donnybrook between Nick Foligno and Smith.

Foligno then suffered an injury. Alex Vlasic was out at one point.

It would be considered comical, but it’s no laughing matter as to how the Blackhawks have lost so many players this season to injury.

Now it may have gotten even worse with Bedard being out.

Now What for the Blackhawks?

It’s been a hellish run for Chicago, with injuries taking out one player after another and all but killing any momentum the Blackhawks try to muster. Now waiting on more information with Bedard and Foligno, they may be without two of their other top five scorers, leaving only Jason Dickinson out there.

If both players are out for any length of time, it will really force Kyle Davidson’s hand as to finding solutions. It would be comical if it weren’t so damning to the Blackhawks season and especially their scoring side of their game.

It’s one thing to lose players, but it’s a whole other now that Connor Bedard and Nick Foligno could be lost, too.