Lightning doesn't strike twice: Bedard quiet in Hawks' loss to Tampa Bay

Coach Jon Cooper knows a special hockey player when he sees one.Quite a few have helped lead Tampa Bay to four Stanley Cup Final appearances in the last nine seasons.So when asked about Connor Bedard before the Lightning’s 4-2 victory over the Blackhawks at the United Center on Thursday, it was no surprise to hear Cooper say: “I love watching guys like that. There’s some special players in the league, and he’s got some special gifts.”Cooper saw them first hand when Bedard scored 2 goals and notched 2 assists during the Hawks’ 5-3 win in Tampa Bay last week.Still, that doesn’t mean Cooper is about to call Bedard the second coming of Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby or Nikita Kucherov.After all, the kid’s played 14 games. Let’s not lose our collective minds.”He kind of has that vision Kuch has,” Cooper said. “(But) again, short sample size. He’s so young.”You don’t want to anoint guys. I’m not a big believer in that, but he has the traits — and you can see (that) in his vision. “Some of the plays he made, it’s impressive at such a young age.”Bedard exposed the Lightning last week in every way imaginable: With his lethal shot, precise passing and explosive speed into and through the offensive zone.It was a different story Thursday, however, as Bedard managed 1 shot on goal. Tampa Bay D-men stuck to Bedard and gave him very little room to operate.”You can’t give NHL players time and space, especially (those) guys,” Cooper said. “We did that last game to Connor and he burned us.”The Hawks took a 1-0 lead when Lukas Reichel scored on the power play at 12:59 of the first period. Reichel — in the bumper position for the first time in his career — redirected a shot from Philipp Kurashev for his first goal of the season.Tampa Bay went ahead 2-1 in the second period, but the Hawks knotted things up when Corey Perry tapped in a beautiful pass from Jason Dickinson at 2:09 of the third period.The Lightning got the game winner on Victor Hedman’s goal with 8:07 remaining. After Erik Cernak shot the puck off the glass behind the goal, it bounced right to Hedman, who easily put the puck past Petr Mrazek.Mrazek impressed most of the night, stopping Tampa Bay’s first 15 shots, including breakaway attempts by Anthony Cirelli and Tyler Motte.The Hawks, who took a season-low 15 shots on goal, fell to 5-9-0. Tampa Bay improved to 7-6-4.Roster update:The Hawks recalled Filip Roos from Rockford on Thursday and placed on Nikita Zaitsev on nonroster for personal reasons. Coach Luke Richardson said Zaitsev will probably not travel to Nashville for Saturday’s game, but “hopefully (will) be back with the team shortly.”Taylor Hall (lower body) did not play Thursday but did skate hard during an optional morning skate. It’s possible he returns to face the Predators.