CHICAGO — The Blackhawks have probably deserved better in some games than their final results. Connor Bedard has probably deserved more on some days than he has in the goals column.
Just Saturday against the New Jersey Devils, that seemed true in a loss. Come Sunday, though, luck finally fell on their side. In a game they should have probably lost after subpar second and third periods, leaning too heavily on their penalty kill and Bedard’s top line being exposed defensively and doing little offensively, the Blackhawks found a way to win, defeating the New York Islanders 5-3 at the United Center.
And for all the shots that have left Bedard shaking his head and wondering how he didn’t score in recent months, it was a shot that baffled him that ended up breaking a 3-3 tie with 54 seconds remaining in the third period and propelling the Blackhawks to the win.
“I just kind of try to get lost (in the slot) and (a) nice puck out just came right to me, shot it right at his chest and somehow it kind of found its way in,” Bedard said. “So it’s nice to get a bounce like that.”
Bedard wasn’t as noticeable as he had been the last week, but the production was there again. With a goal and a primary assist on Sunday, he’s registered two goals and five assists in interim coach Anders Sorensen’s first five games. It’s also the first time this season Bedard has recorded points in four of five games.
Bedard thought his recent production was a byproduct of his own ability and talking with Sorensen. Sorensen was not going to take credit, though.
“I don’t think I have much to do with that,” Sorensen said. “He’s obviously a special player and I just encourage him to trust his instincts. A couple of things we talk about within our structure that we hold him accountable to and he’s done that and he’s got to go play hockey.”
Aside from the goal, it wasn’t a great night for Bedard in five-on-five play. That was his lone five-on-five shot on goal. He also scored that goal while on the ice with Ryan Donato and Tyler Bertuzzi. He spent most of the game with Donato and Philipp Kurashev, and that line struggled with a 25.01 expected goals percentage and was on the ice for two of the Islanders’ goals.
Here was one of those goals, which tied the game early in the third period:
Sorensen has been hopeful Kurashev would turn his game around and has been putting him with Bedard, but you have to wonder if that will come to an end. With Kurashev on the ice for those two goals against in five-on-five play on Sunday, the Blackhawks have been outscored 23-3 with him on the ice. Kurashev also has zero goals and one assist in his last 10 games.
Sorensen explained why he went with Bertuzzi, Donato and Bedard together on the late-game faceoff that led to the go-ahead goal.
“I just felt like Bertuzzi’s played really well the last five games and Donny was winning faceoffs for us, and obviously you want Connor on the ice in that situation. So we just felt like those were the three guys we wanted to go with and it worked out,” Sorensen said.
Sunday’s game felt like it was going to be another one lost in the third period. Sunday marked the 30th time in 31 games this season they’ve led, been tied or been within a goal in the third period, but that obviously hasn’t meant much to their winning percentage. They had just nine wins heading into Sunday.
The Islanders looked like they might’ve pounced on the Blackhawks again in the third period. Thirty-seven seconds in, the Islanders tied the game at 3-3. The Blackhawks were positioned for another collapse.
But they didn’t collapse.
“I mean, yeah. I think going into the third period, like in between intermissions, that was something that everybody was just kind of piping up,” Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic said. “Enough of what’s happened the last week or so — I guess all season, honestly, just with the way that we’ve been able to blow leads — and so today, for us to do that, I think everybody kind of just had to bear down and make the simple play. And it was a matter of time before we were going to get one.”
The Blackhawks’ other lines had their share of positive moments on Sunday. The second and third lines were noticeable early. The fourth line had a couple of great scoring chances late. There were times, especially in the first period, when the Blackhawks’ waves of forecheck pressure and defense support created turnovers and offensive chances. That subsided over the game.
Taylor Hall was good early and scored a goal. He might have made the biggest surge since Sorensen took over. Ilya Mikheyev scored a goal and could have had a couple. But overall, it was Teuvo Teräväinen’s afternoon. He had two primary assists in five-on-five play and scored on a one-timer on a five-on-three power play.
The entire sequence from defensive faceoff win to completion was pretty flawless on Mikheyev’s goal.
Offense has been hard to come by for Teräväinen. He hadn’t had a multipoint game since Oct. 17. As always, you couldn’t know whether he was ecstatic afterward about his own play.
“Yeah, it’s good whenever you can help the team win the game. just felt like the puck was bouncing pretty good for me and my line today,” he said. “Good effort by our line, I think.”
Teuvo will always be Teuvo.
Teräväinen deserves his props, but the Blackhawks’ penalty kill deserves most of the credit. The Blackhawks extended their streak of not allowing a power-play goal to 25 penalty kills by denying the Islanders four times, including twice in the third period.
The first kill in the third period came when the Blackhawks lost a challenge and the second was when Donato was called for tripping. Donato is lucky he didn’t get something added on given his reaction to the officiating crew.
Vlasic was asked if the penalty kill felt invincible right now. He was careful with his response.
“I don’t want to say, I don’t want to jinx anything, but I think we’re … yeah, we’re playing well,” Vlasic said. “I think we’re paying attention to what we’re learning about the other team’s power play and what they try to look for. We’re bearing down on the chances we get to clear the puck down the ice and just making sure that everyone’s fresh and going 100 percent. I think we’re a little more aggressive this year than we were last year and it’s paying off for us.”
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Sorensen made Wyatt Kaiser a healthy scratch after Saturday’s loss. Sorensen didn’t get into details, but Kaiser’s inability to clear the puck on one of the Devils’ third-period goals had to play into the decision. Louis Crevier replaced him on Sunday.
“Just a little reset,” Sorensen said of Kaiser before the game. “Did some good things, some things we have to clean up and I want to get Crevs back in as well.”
(Photo of Connor Bedard celebrating his game-winning goal with Alex Vlasic: David Banks / USA Today)
