The last time we saw the Pittsburgh Penguins was back on Oct. 10 in the Steel City. Connor Bedard had the attention of the hockey world by making his NHL debut that night. He picked up his first career point with an assist as the Chicago Blackhawks came back from a two-goal deficit to win 4-2. Four months later, Bedard returned to the lineup against the Penguins. The Penguins jumped out to a 2-0 lead again but made it hold up in a 4-1 victory this time.
When we left practice on Wednesday, it sounded like Bedard was on track to return sometime next week. However, this morning, reports started flying around that the rookie phenom would play tonight for the first time since breaking his jaw on Jan. 5 against the New Jersey Devils. It was first reported by Elliotte Friedman, then later echoed by Kevin Weeks and Emily Kaplan. We got confirmation from the team that he was indeed returning around 2 pm this afternoon.
Bedard had two doctor appointments yesterday and got clearance to take contact. He met with head coach Luke Richardson and Kyle Davidson and told him he was good to go. Richardson and a handful of players headed to the rink this morning and put Bedard through a “little bit of a battle.”
“He’s a puck possession guy, so his stick is on the puck on the ice a lot of times,” said Richardson. He’s got to be aware, especially this time of year. It’s fast. So, we put him through some paces with some of the guys and myself this morning, and we just asked him after, and he said, ‘Yep, I feel good, I feel comfortable.’ He didn’t feel like he was shying away from anything. He got to the front of the net in battle drills, and he looked fine. He looked like himself, so he’s eager to go.”
He started the night in a familiar spot between Nick Foligno and Philipp Kurashev. Heading into the game, Bedard still led the team with 33 points, even after missing the last 14 games. Meanwhile, Lukas Reichel was scratched for the fourth time as his season-long struggles continue.
Just like on opening night, it was Bedard and Sidney Crosby at center ice to take the faceoff. All the extra energy was sucked out of the building just 15 seconds after the opening draw when Crosby deflected the puck over Arvid Soderblom for his 29th goal of the season. Bedard was on the ice for the second Penguins goal about 13 minutes later when Reilly Smith deposited a backhand shot into the net.
Eight minutes into the second period, Bedard picked up his 19th assist of the season by feeding the puck to Kurashev at the side of the net. Although he didn’t get an assist on the play, Kevin Korchinski deserves some credit for keeping the puck in the zone.
The Blackhawks got their first power play of the night late in the middle frame. The first unit, with Bedard, spent the entire two minutes on the ice, most of which was in the offensive zone. Despite not scoring, the man advantage felt dangerous for the first time in 14 games.
Crosby scored his second of the night early in the third period to restore Pittsburgh’s two-goal lead. This play came moments after Kurashev set up Boris Katchouk right in front of the net, but he pushed the prime scoring chance wide. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks were unable to get any closer. Bryan Rust added a late shorthanded empty-net goal to seal the deal. Effort was not the problem tonight; leaving Crosby open was.
Bedard got better as the game went on. He was a little tentative to start the game, but by the midway point, he looked like his usual confident self. He and Kurashev were dangerous all night long.
“I think he’s really worked on his conditioning, and it showed tonight,” Richardson said after the game. “I didn’t see any drop-off. I thought he was ready to go in the second half of that game. so when there were opportunities to get him out there a little bit more, I tried to do that. their line was going well, especially in the second and third periods. So we tried to get them out there more because we needed them.”
Bedard said he wasn’t nervous or timid about mixing it up right from the get-go.
“I’m not going to go in there scared,” he said. “If it happens — I don’t know, you just don’t think about it, really. I’m confident in myself and my abilities. You can’t be nervous going out there. Be smart, for sure, I”m not a big guy, I’m smaller than pretty much everyone. Gotta have your head up and be ready. If a lot of these guys catch me, it’s not going to be good. Just be smart.”
In addition to his assist, the rookie star finished with four shots on goal on six attempts and dished out two hits in 21:17 of ice time. The biggest negative was that he went 0-for-7 at the dot. He and the Blackhawks will be back in action Saturday afternoon against the Ottawa Senators.
