This Connor Bedard guy is pretty good.
The center scored his third goal of the game at the 3:46 mark of the third period and hats poured on the United Center ice for the first time this season. When his face popped up on the Jumbotron, the crowd roared in celebration of their young star.
“Our whole team celebrates each other in moments like that and the fans’ reaction was awesome,” Bedard said. “We have so much support. You want to get a (hat trick) anywhere, but to get one at home is nice and to have that support is unbelievable.”
He’s still 20 years old. When his 21st birthday comes next summer, he probably won’t have to buy many drinks for himself in the Windy City.
The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, running away with a 7-3 win. The Hawks are now 13-1-1 in the last 15 games against the Sens.
Bedard netted the first hat trick of his NHL career and four points on the night. That brings his season total to six goals and 12 points. He made easy work of Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark, on whom Bedard scored his first NHL goal in Boston in 2023.
It was quite the night of accolades for the 2023 top draft pick. With the four-point night, he became the seventh Blackhawk to score 50 goals at age 20 or younger. Eddie Olczyk, Jonathan Toews, Jeremy Roenick, Bobby Hull, Denis Savard and Patrick Kane make up the rest of the list.
Additionally, Bedard has scored the fifth-most points in franchise history for a player prior to their 21st birthday. He passed Roenick and sits at 140 points for his career.
“Personally, coming to the year, (I’ve had a) little better mindset knowing the league and being a little more relaxed,” Bedard said. “It’s easy to say that after a hat trick and a win, but I think our group is super motivated, loves each other and it’s been a lot of fun so far.”
The fun nearly ended in the second period. It’s been a troubling trend for the Hawks, giving up goals in the period against teams on a back-to-back, and Ottawa was no different. The Hawks saw their 4-0 lead evaporate in three minutes and 33 seconds as the Senators scored three goals in that time. It was 4-3 heading to the second intermission.
Bedard’s third goal sealed the game, while Ryan Donato and Frank Nazar joined the goal-scoring party afterward. Coach Jeff Blashill is still figuring out the Hawks’ cursed second period, but he said he’ll always take a win.
“It seems like we get hemmed in more on our end in the second than we do in the first and third. If I had the answer, we’d have it fixed,” Blashill said. “(It’s) something we got to make sure that we try to figure out and get an answer.”
The milestones weren’t just for Bedard. Captain Nick Foligno scored his 600th point after he assisted Colton Dach’s opening goal. He still made sure to give Bedard his flowers.
“Some guys are lucky enough to get their first hat trick (and) when you do it’s an awesome feeling,” Foligno said. “He’s a guy that loves to score goals, you can see it on his face how pumped he was.
“He’s a threat every time he’s on the ice, you can see his confidence growing more and more in the game and that’s exciting for us.”
The Hawks (5-3-2) are on their best 10-game start since the 2018-19 season, where they began the year 6-2-2. The team will have six straight road games, so there was extra pressure to get the win before boarding the plane.
“It’s so important that we make this a hard place to play, especially when we let one slip away against a team that was coming in off a back-to-back,” Foligno said. “That was an area that we wanted to emphasize, making sure that any team that’s at a disadvantage is going to feel that.”
Defenseman Louis Crevier had two points against the Senators, netting a goal and an assist. Tyler Bertuzzi didn’t gain a point in his return, but did get into a large fight with Ottawa’s Nick Cousins, resulting in a 10-minute penalty.
“(Tyler’s) a foxhole guy and you want him in your foxhole. He’ll stick up for himself, stick up for his teammates. He embodies what we want to be as a group,” Blashill said. “Honestly really good to have him back and have him in. He’s a big piece of what we want to be here and I’ve been really impressed with him and his start, what he’s done and his approach.”
Ilya Mikheyev didn’t play on Tuesday as he deals with a day-to-day injury. Blashill said he will travel with the team on the road trip.
The team is rightfully feeling good going into Winnipeg, where they will play Jonathan Toews’ Jets on Thursday. They plan to be ready to play the villain for two weeks.
“I don’t mind long road trips, to be honest with you, I think the ones that are harder are when you’re constantly bouncing back and forth,” Blashill said. “Going on the road for a while, you get into the mode of it. There’ll be zero excuse for us, we have to find a way to have success.”