‘It’s nice to be back’: Bedard makes surprise return for Blackhawks
Connor Bedard made a semi-triumphant return to the Blackhawks' lineup Thursday, notching an assist and turning in plenty of eye-opening plays during a 4-1 loss to the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.
The end result – an eighth straight loss for the Hawks – wasn't what everyone wanted, but just the fact Bedard returned sooner than expected was a win for the organization.
“I want to play games,” said Bedard, who finished with 4 shots on goal in 21:17 of ice time. “I mean it's frustrating watching and you can't be out there with your guys and try and help them win and go to battle with them.
“It's what I love to do. It's all I really want, so it's nice to be back for sure.”
It was just Monday that coach Luke Richardson told reporters Bedard would need a few full practices next week before he would be cleared to return to game action.
Things changed drastically after Bedard's doctors appointments Wednesday, however. The scans came back clean, so Richardson, manager Kyle Davidson and associate general manager Norm Maciver sat down with Bedard to discuss options.
“We talked about if he needed another full practice and (then) come in on Saturday and it was, 'No,'” Richardson said. “We said, 'Well, you have to go through a morning skate with some contact drills. … He was fully, 'I’m ready for that.'”
So while the Hawks didn't hold an official morning skate Thursday, Richardson and a few others took to the ice to test Bedard.
He passed with flying colors, even taking a few bumps from Richardson himself.
Asked if he experienced any jitters about taking a hit, Bedard said: “Not really, to be honest. I thought I might in the morning a little bit. It was just so much excitement.
“I was pretty antsy all day. I was kind of running around all the time. Felt like a kid.”
Bedard, who was injured at New Jersey after taking a viscous open-ice hit from Brendan Smith, ended up missing 14 games. He has been participating in non-contact drills at practice with a face shield for over a week. The shield will stay on for the foreseeable future – possibly more than a month, according to Richardson.
He had a very quiet opening period, one in which the Hawks fell behind 2-0.
But the middle stanza showed all of Chicago why these offensively starved Hawks had managed a mere 8 goals in their last seven games.
Bedard brought the crowd to its feet when he fed Philipp Kurashev for a second-period goal at 8:22. Bedard took a pass from Nick Foligno, zipped toward the right faceoff dot and threaded a perfect pass to Kurashev as Ryan Graves dove in vain to break up the play. It was Kurashev's ninth goal of the season and snapped a 13-game drought.
It was Bedard's 19th assist.
“He made a great play there,” Kurashev said. “It was nice to see him back and healthy and playing good.”
Bedard also made an impressive rush on net that should have resulted in a tripping penalty on Ryan Graves, and later sent a blind, behind-the-back pass to Foligno, who was feet away from the net. Foligno's shot attempt was staved off by Penguins netminder Alex Nedeljkovic.
In the third period, Kurashev fed Bedard, who got off a blistering one-timer that was saved by Nedeljkovic.
“I can't believe I missed that one pass from him,” Bedard said. “That was a sick dish. Nice save, I guess. But I've got to make a better shot.”
The Hawks fell behind after just 15 seconds when Sidney Crosby redirected a pass over Arvid Soderblom's left shoulder. The Penguins added a second goal on a Reilly Smith backhander that went just 42 mph.
Crosby scored twice for the Penguins (24-20-7) to reach 30 goals for the 12th time in his illustrious career.
Slap shots:
Lukas Reichel was a healthy scratch for the third time in eight games. … Jarred Tinordi was activated off injured reserve and returned to the lineup. Forward Rem Pitlick was assigned to Rockford. … Defenseman Luke Philip, who cleared waivers Wednesday, sustained an injury and was placed on injured reserve