Bedard wows Blackhawks again with 1st 5-point game

CHICAGO -- Connor Bedard was at it again, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft putting on another show en route to the first five-point game of his NHL career.

“That’s it? That's all he got, huh?” Chicago Blackhawks linemate Nick Foligno said jokingly after Bedard had a goal and four assists in a 7-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at United Center on Tuesday. “I'm proud of him. I mean, that's what he can do for us.”

Bedard has had some impressive games this season, but this one hit a new high. The rookie center became the fifth 18-year-old in NHL history to have a five-point game. The last to do it was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who had five assists for the Edmonton Oilers in a 9-2 win against the Blackhawks on Nov. 19, 2011.

Bedard leads the Blackhawks and all NHL rookies with 51 points (20 goals, 31 assists) in 52 games. Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber is second with 38 points (six goals, 32 assists).

Bedard joined Eddie Olczyk as the only 18-year-olds to score 20 goals in a season for the Blackhawks. Olczyk did it in 1984-85.

Oh, and Bedard has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past two games, including two goals and an assist in a 7-4 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday. He’s the second teenager in NHL history with eight points in a two-game span, joining Dale Hawerchuk, who did it with the Winnipeg Jets when he was 18 (March 13-16, 1982).

So, is anything in particular clicking for Bedard these past two games?

“I don’t know,” he said. “I mean, I always try to go in with the same mindset, try to play the same.

“I think it’s funny, I had eight games straight without a goal, then you have a couple of big ones and people kind of forget about that. I don’t know, I think I’m just trying to stick to what works and I’ve been fortunate the last two to get a couple.”

Perhaps the goalless games leave the mind fairly quickly, because even if Bedard doesn’t score, he’s always a threat to do so. He hasn’t been shy in shooting, either, with 160 shots on goal, most among the Blackhawks and League rookies.

The points are noticeable, but Foligno is also looking at how Bedard got them.

“What I really liked -- and maybe this won't get written about -- but he's under the puck,” he said. “If you saw the first 5-on-5 goal we had (by Philipp Kurashev), he comes underneath me, I give it to him and now they're on a 2-on-1. He's not ahead of the play. You can see he's understanding now his positioning as a centerman and a player in this league to create offense.”

He and Foligno, who played left wing on the top line with Bedard and had four assists on Tuesday, became the first set of Blackhawks teammates to each have four assists in a game since Steve Larmer and Jeremy Roenick did it against the Oilers on Nov. 27, 1992.

Even more than Foligno, who has been on Bedard’s left wing for a good portion of this season, Bedard has really worked well with right wing Kurashev. Bedard had the primary assist on both of Kurashev’s goals Tuesday, and of Kurashev’s 13 goals this season, Bedard has had the primary assist on eight of them. Of Bedard’s 20 goals, Kurashev has had the primary assist on eight.

“I'm just trying to give him the puck,” Bedard said of Kurashev. “He's so good at getting himself open when someone else has it. Man, I love playing with him, he's so skilled.

“I think the best part is we’re always talking about plays and or even in practice kind of working on stuff together. That makes it so much fun and makes it a little easier to build chemistry just with how much we're trying to work together. When he has the puck, he makes something happen. And then, like I said, when he doesn’t have it, he's getting an open, getting in a spot. So, yes, it's a lot of fun for me to play with him.”

Bedard continues to put up great numbers in his rookie season. He’s always had a lethal wrist shot, he’s honing his playmaking abilities and is improving his defensive game. It’s all made for some productive games, the biggest coming Tuesday.

“I thought he was dynamic with the puck and pretty elusive,” Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. “But the best part about it is his defensive game is getting better.

“We’ve been trying to talk to him about that all year and he’s getting it and I think what happens is by doing that, he gets the puck back even quicker because he’s in the right spots. That’s allowing him to have great line rushes with his teammates. Nobody has to be spread out or stretching or cheating or anything like that. It’s just playing the right way and I think he’s realizing that.”