Connor Bedard Gets His Swagger Back in Blackhawks Win Over Utah

It’s no coincidence that the Chicago Blackhawks are playing some of their best hockey of the season as the young players begin to take control of the team. The youth led the way again in a 4-3 overtime win over the Utah Hockey Club Friday night. The Blackhawks are 3-0-1 and have a chance to close in on the Nashville Predators in the standings Saturday night.

Former Blackhawk Nick Schmaltz gave Utah a 1-0 lead in the game’s opening minute. Moments after an Alex Vlasic turnover, Schmaltz put home the rebound off a Clayton Keller shot. He nearly had a second goal a few minutes later, but he was denied by a sprawling Spencer Knight glove save.

Utah started to show signs of fatigue in the second period after beating the Detroit Red Wings last night, and the Blackhawks took advantage of it. Connor Bedard picked up his first point since the 4 Nations Face-Off break to tie the game midway through the frame. He stole the puck from defenseman Sean Durzi and quickly fired the puck off the crossbar. While the United Center crowd celebrated what they thought was a goal, Bedard got the puck to Wyatt Kaiser in the slot, where he toe-dragged around a defender and deposited his third goal of the season.

The Blackhawks took the lead when Ryan Donato forced another Durzi turnover and got the puck to Ilya Mikheyev, who beat Karel Vejmelka with a quick backhander. Frank Nazar doubled the lead two minutes later by converting on a penalty shot.

To Utah’s credit, they found another gear in the third period as they are fighting for their postseason lives. Defenseman John Marino pulled Utah to within a goal when his shot from the point made it through heavy traffic and into the net. Clayton Keller tied the game a few minutes later by blasting home a one-timer on the power play.

In the extra time, Bedard capped off his best game in quite some time by scoring his second career overtime goal. Even though he stayed on the ice longer than he should, he skated the puck around the net and back into the slot, where he beat Vejmelka to the far post. Skate right, shoot left—a time-test formula for success.

Connor Bedard Gets Back on the Scoresheet

The Blackhawks’ young star entered Friday’s game on a seven-game pointless streak. He was playing so well heading into the 4 Nations Face-Off, but he seemed to lose all his confidence in the two weeks away from the game.

“Can’t change the past, so just trying to do what I can to play better,” he said on Thursday. “Obviously, my job is to produce and create offense, and it’s frustrating when you’re not, but just keep trying to improve and see where I can. Hopefully, the points come.”

Bedard was on a mission against Utah, and it showed early on. After he made the play that led to the first goal, you could see the confidence return, and the swagger quickly followed.

“This was the longest drought of his really young career so far, and I thought he handled it really well,” interim coach Anders Sorensen said. “He didn’t get frustrated and stuck with what he believes works, which he’s been doing. And today, he got rewarded for it.”

Bedard finished his night with a goal, a primary assist, five shots on goal on nine attempts, two hits, two takeaways, one blocked shot, and went 9-for-18 at the faceoff dot. His line with Nazar and Colton Dach was the team’s best at 5v5, creating eight scoring chances to just three allowed. At the time, it felt like the assist on Kaiser’s goal was the type of play that gets him rolling again, and the feeling was proven right. Now, let’s see it carry over against the Predators.

Spencer Knight’s Legend Grows

Knight was the key part of the return in last week’s Seth Jones trade, automatically making him one of the most popular players on the roster. Now that he’s won his first two starts by stopping 77 of 81 shots (951 SV%), he can run for mayor. He brought the crowd out of their seats with this save on Schmaltz in the first period.

“It’s impressive how dynamic he is down low, how explosive he is, and how quickly he gets his pads down,” Sorensen said about his new goaltender.

I’m glad his first two games with the team were on home ice so that I could see him from my perch in the United Center pressbox. Knight is so smooth in the crease. There is never any wasted motion; everything is quick and compact. He’s been the perfect injection of life into the locker room and the fan base. Who was the first person to celebrate with Bedard after his overtime goal? It was Knight!

Odd & Ends

• Philipp Kurashev was activated off injured reserve and slid into the spot vacated by Craig Smith, who was traded to the Detroit Red Wings earlier in the day. He only got eight shifts on the night and will likely sit in favor of the recently acquired Joe Veleno. There is a chance he did the Blackhawks a solid by coming back sooner than he should from his hand injury. Teams are only allowed four AHL call-ups after the trade deadline. The Blackhawks used two on Friday after reassigning and recalling Dach and Ethan Del Mastro so they could be eligible for the AHL playoffs.
• Speaking of Del Mastro, he set a new career-high in time on ice with 23:12, the second-highest TOI on the team. He finished with two shots on goal, a hit, three blocked shots, and was a plus-1.
• Donato wasn’t traded before the deadline, and it sounds like a contract extension is coming. Frank Servalli reported on the CHSN pregame show that a “quality” three-year extension with a “pretty significant raise” has been offered. Based on his comments to Darren Pang before the game, it’s only a matter of time before Donato agrees to a new deal.