The question in the offseason for the Chicago Blackhawks front office was how could they better support Connor Bedard.
In Year 2, perhaps the question should be how is he better at supporting everyone else.
During the Hawks’ 4-2 win Thursday against the San Jose Sharks in front of 19,056 fans at the United Center opener, Bedard made the kind of subtle plays that don’t show up on the stat sheet but were key to engineering some offense for the usually goal-strapped Hawks.
Take Tyler Bertuzzi’s first-period power-play goal, for example.
Bedard gloved a Sharks clearing attempt in midair to keep the puck in the zone and the attack alive. Seconds later, Bertuzzi tipped in Teuvo Teräväinen’s shot for his first goal of the season.
During a second-period power play, Bedard attracted three penalty killers before passing cross-ice to Teräväinen, who whipped it down to Nick Foligno for a tip-in for a 3-0 lead.
Late in the third, Bedard made a spin-o-rama pass from the low slot and just missed a connection with Foligno for a backdoor tip-in.
“(They) kind of shot it at me,” Bedard said of the Bertuzzi goal. “It wasn’t that hard of a play for me, but obviously great play by TiVo and Bert to get positioning there. It’s good to see that one go in and kind of start us off.”
Added Bertuzzi: “Didn’t see it, but (I) assume it was great, and Tivo made a great play to find me there in the slot.”
Coach Luke Richardson said that by retrieving pucks, looking for teammates and still taking his share of shots (he had three on the night), Bedard “keeps everybody guessing and brings the other team compact, a little bit more together, because they’re not sure what he’s doing and it keeps them stationary.”
“That allows us to shoot pucks and have movement and we’re the ones that are collecting the rebounds of the loose pucks, not the other team, because they’re standing still in the middle,” he said. “That’s a threat that he doesn’t even maybe know he gives us.”
But on the original question of support for Bedard, no one has had more of an impact than Teräväinen. And not just for Bedard.
The Hawks, period.
“He just sees,” Richardson said. “He sees openings and he knows exactly what the next play is before he gets it on his stick.”
Bedard said of his budding rapport with Teräväinen, “I think we’re just trying to find each other a lot.”
The pair has teamed up on six goals.
“You’ve got to throw Fliggy (Foligno) in there as well,” Bedard said. “He’s going on net, he’s going in the corners, and me and Teuvo are really benefiting off that, just getting in open space. I’m looking for him, he’s looking for me. Smart player, very skilled. He’s a very fun guy to play with.”
Meanwhile, there was a lot else clicking for the Hawks on a night the breaks seemed to fall their way.
- Taylor Hall scored the opening goal, his first since Nov. 5 against the New Jersey Devils before an ACL tear in his right knee cost him the season.
- Jason Dickinson notched his first goal of the season in the third period off a beauty of a pass from Joey Anderson that Dickinson swept in quickly from net front. “Hall actually redirected it in at the blue line as he was changing and that let Anderson get in on the forecheck,” Richardson said, “(Dickinson’s) not afraid to go to that hard area, like where he scored tonight. It’s not just his shot.”
- The Hawks had two goals on seven power plays.
Yes, the Hawks beat up on a tomato can in the Sharks, but it was just last season the Hawks were a tomato can themselves.
“It’s a very small sample size,” Bedard said. “But I feel like we’ve had a lot of good moments in every game and at times every game we’re really taking it to the other team, so that’s felt good.”
The Hawks still allowed goals to Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund to keep the Sharks within reach, but they didn’t crumble like they did in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Here are four takeaways from the win.
1. There were power plays aplenty.
It was the Hawks home opener, but the Sharks were the ones giving away power plays.
San Jose had entered the game as one of only two teams to kill off every power play (11 times short-handed). The Hawks bagged two of their chances after going 3-for-3 in Edmonton, but 0-for-2 in Calgary.
“It’s getting better and better,” Teräväinen said. “Got to get some reps in, games in, move the puck and make some plays, and today we had a lot of power play and made a nice couple plays and goals.”
Bedard added, “The only way you can really get better is in-game reps. Practicing is great, but it’s never the same feel.”
2. Not much room for Lukas Reichel.
After four healthy scratches to start the season, he drew into the lineup as a fourth-line center.
Reichel played a team-low 8 minutes and 31 seconds, but lost a lot of possible ice time to San Jose’s endless penalty minutes.
“I thought he had some good plays,” Richardson said. “There was just one time in the second (period) he kind of skated into a guy at the blue line, where maybe a little bit earlier realizing he was running out of room and cut a little wider.
“But other than that, that’s just nitpicking as a coach. He was hard in the face-off circle, he blocked a shot in the third period and he was really showing initiative to take hard strides, whether it was tracking back – which helps our D – or on offense and the forecheck. So it was a good start for him.”
3. Alec Martinez goes on the shelf.
The defenseman was placed on injured reserve before the game with a groin strain. Nolan Allan drew into the game and Isaak Phillips was recalled from Rockford.
Richardson said of Martinez’s injury, “It’s been kind of nagging for a while and last game, just kind of re-aggravated it a bit. So we have to just give him time.”
4. The game was lackin’ Macklin.
The hockey world didn’t get the first showdown of Bedard (the No. 1 pick in 2023) versus Macklin Celebrini (the No. 1 pick in 2024) because of a hip injury. The Sharks rookie didn’t travel with the team.
Bedard said, “I’m pretty sure it’s not too serious, so I think we go there soon and hopefully play him then. But it was really fun to watch him that first game, and you’re excited to get to play him eventually.”
