Connor Bedard needed a game like Sunday’s 5-3 win over the New York Islanders, but perhaps the Chicago Blackhawks needed it more.
Tied 3-3, Bedard potted the game-winner with 54 seconds left at the United Center to shock the Isles three days after losing to them 5-4 in New York.
Ryan Donato set up the goal with a pass between Tyler Bertuzzi’s legs and Bedard’s hard slot shot trickled through Ilya Sorokin’s five-hole.
“I just kind of trying to get lost and … (the puck) 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.”
Connor Murphy added an insurance empty-netter.
Bedard’s goal was his first game-deciding score in the third period and second in his career. Last season he scored an overtime winner against the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 27.
And as meaningful as this was to building Bedard’s resume as a clutch player, it’s just as huge for the Hawks with the way they won it.
The Islanders tied the Hawks three times, including the first score of the third period, by Noah Dobson.
Given the Hawks’ propensity for folding in the third, that could’ve been the prelude to another meltdown.
But they didn’t let it happen.
“It’s big,” said Alex Vlasic, who had two assists. “Right now, we’re struggling to find wins, and so everything we can get is important for us. And I feel like it was one of those games where, similar to the last few, where we get the lead and find a way to give it up.
“And for us to find that extra gear in the third period and not back down, and get that goal back, was huge for us.”
Interim coach Anders Sorensen agreed, “It was nice.”
“It’s one of those things, the randomness of the game. I thought yesterday maybe we played better (in a 4-1 loss to the Devils in New Jersey) and didn’t get the result, and today we kind of did bend a little bit but we never broke,” Sorensen said.
“We didn’t play our best game but found a way to win.”
Here are six takeaways.
1. Connor Bedard is building rapport with Anders Sorensen.
He had been a bystander at times for the handful of wins that have come the Hawks’ way, but it’s undeniable that he’s shown a lot more pop lately.
He had the primary assist on Taylor Hall’s game-winning goal against the New York Rangers on Dec. 9, and he posted a goal and two assists against the Islanders on Thursday.
Bedard said of Sorensen, “I feel like he’s been really good with me, kind of one-on-one helping me out.”
As Sorensen continues to tweak the Hawks’ system, “we’re playing a little more aggressive, which obviously benefits the offensive side,” Bedard said. “I like to think that I can make plays and produce and that’s kind of what I want to do, but he’s helped me out a bit for sure.”
Sorensen refused to take credit.
“I don’t think I have much to do with that,” he said about helping Bedard improve, other than keeping him within structure. “He’s obviously a special player and I just encourage him to trust his instincts.”
2. It was a get-right game for several Hawks.
Teuvo Teräväinen had a goal and two assists, the first of which set up Ilya Mikheyev for the game’s opening goal.
Mikheyev last scored on Nov. 16 in Vancouver.
His goal represented the 20th time this season (and fifth game in a row) in which the Hawks scored first. But true to form, they gave up the equalizer.
This time it was a point shot from Ryan Pulock after Simon Holmstrom appeared to knock Pierre Engvall’s rebound off Kevin Korchinski’s skate back to Pulock.
But instead of tensing up, the Hawks kept up the pressure, and Hall nailed a sharp-angle shot with 20 seconds left in the frame, assisted by Teräväinen.
The Islanders answered — again — with Holmstrom’s back-door goal to make it 2-2.
It looked iffy for the Hawks after Hall slashed Scott Mayfield, but the Islanders committed tripping and delay of game (puck over the glass) penalties to give the Hawks a five-on-three power play.
Bedard stretched to send a cross-ice pass to Teräväinen, and he one-timed it over Sorokin’s left shoulder to regain the lead, 3-2.
“I just got the puck and tried to shoot it,” Teräväinen said. “It was a good play by (Bedard), just comes in and slides to me and I just try to shoot it.”
And Teräväinen’s line with Mikheyev and Jason Dickinson got the Hawks going with Mikheyev’s goal.
“Just felt like the puck was bouncing pretty good for me and my line today,” he said. “Good effort by our line, I think.”
Teräväinen has moved around the lineup a lot this season, but his confidence has been growing recently.
Sorensen said, “He was really good tonight, so hopefully he can build off this.
“We all know that he’s better than he’s played, and he knows that, and we’ve had conversations about that. So, really good response from him tonight.”
3. Having a shutdown penalty kill came in handy.
Sorensen made his first-ever challenge on Dobson’s third-period goal, but the goal was upheld, saddling the Hawks with a bench minor for delay of game.
It was a 3-3 game, and the Hawks had never trailed, so it was risky. But Sorensen could take that chance because he had a strong penalty kill backing him.
“Deaner’s done a great job,” Sorensen said of assistant coach Kevin Dean. “He’s very direct and he lets them know exactly what we’re looking for and what the other team’s looking for as well.
“Our habits on the PK have been really good. Our sticks and we’re closing down lanes. With a challenge like that, it’s in the back of your mind a little bit and then we knew our PK has been playing well, so we said, ‘OK, let’s try it.’”
The Hawks PK, which entered the game ranked fifth (83.7%), kept its shutout streak alive by stifling a 24th consecutive power play and added the 25th after Ryan Donato’s tripping penalty.
The Isles went 0-for-4 on Sunday, and a highlight was Joey Anderson hunkering down in a corner battle with three Islanders in a textbook display of stall tactics.
Anderson had just been drawn into the lineup Sunday after being a healthy scratch in eight of the previous nine games.
Sorensen said, “That’s the one thing with Joey coming into the lineup is we know he can kill penalties and he’s been really good.
“With Nick (Foligno) being out (sick) tonight, it was pretty easy to put Joey in there and trust him in those situations.”
4. Is Philipp Kurashev playing his way out of Chicago?
If you’re going to wear No. 23 in this town you have to show better than what we’ve seen recently.
Kurashev, an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent after the season, is on a nine-game pointless streak and has a minus-12 rating in that span, including a minus-2 on Sunday.
Before the game, Sorensen kept the faith.
“I thought his last game was the best I’ve seen him skate since I’ve come here,” he said. “He was engaged on the puck, I thought against even the Islanders that game, he had some opportunities.
“He didn’t find the back of the net, but I thought his overall play was improved.”
Sunday afternoon, he didn’t look improved, he looked like he gave lackluster effort.
Upon closer inspection of Pulock’s goal, Kurashev had just received a replacement stick from the bench, so he had inside position for the puck along the wall but was picked off from behind by Holmstrom.
After the game, Sorensen declined to fault Kurashev.
“Tough play,” he said. “I thought he broke his stick and tried to pick up a stick from the bench, and I think the puck was bouncing quite a bit on him there.
“Obviously not ideal, but that happens.”
5. A couple of key Hawks are getting healthier.
Goalie Petr Mrázek is scheduled to take the ice Monday or Tuesday, a sign of progress in his recovery from the left groin injury that has shelved him since Dec. 7.
Seth Jones skated for a short period Saturday, according to Sorensen.
“He’s progressing,” Sorensen said before the game. “He was on the ice today. (It’s) going to be a little bit longer here but he’s on the ice, so that’s a positive.”
Jones, the Hawks’ top offensive defenseman, hasn’t played since Nov. 14 in Seattle, and he missed his 14th game on Sunday.
Luke Richardson was fired in that time, and Jones will return to a system under Sorensen that emphasizes defensemen getting more involved on offense.
“I think our D is up the rush more, we’re creating some stuff off the rush,” Sorensen said.
6. The last laugh: Sorensen could give some pin-pointers on coach-speak.
A couple of us asked Anders Sorensen what’s going on with the Blackhawks’ third periods, and he had a funny response (have to watch till the end)
w/ @The1Tab pic.twitter.com/MF4D6gfBhH
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) December 15, 2024
You could say this about Luke Richardson, he’d break down a play or a problem so thoroughly, sometimes he’d tread into the realm of overexplaining.
His replacement, Sorensen, possesses an economy of words, to put it kindly.
That quality led to a funny exchange between reporters before the game.
What’s the problem with the Hawks’ third periods, mental fatigue, physical fatigue or something else?
“Trying to pinpoint that right now,” Sorensen said.
With a veteran team, how do you keep the anxiety about the third period from becoming a bigger issue?
“Trying to pinpoint that,” he deadpanned.
