Connor Bedard Shakes Off Early Rust in Return, But Blackhawks Fall to Penguins

It took Connor Bedard a little while to get his bearings in his first game back after missing 14-plus contests with a broken jaw.

By the end of the second period against Pittsburgh on Thursday, the Chicago Blackhawks 18-year-old center — and the NHL’s leading rookie scorer — started to look like his old self.

Bedard got rolling in the second period. USA Today Network, Jamie Sabau

But Bedard’s dash of excitement didn’t make a difference for last-place Chicago. Sidney Crosby scored twice to reach 30 goals for the 12th time and Reilly Smith connected to lead the Penguins to a 4-1 win.

Bryan Rust added an empty-netter with 50 seconds left.

The Blackhawks, dead last in the NHL, lost their eighth straight (0-7-1).

Bedard Got Rolling

Bedard eventually was wheeling and dealing from behind his full polycarbonate face shield.

He set up one linemate, Philipp Kurashev for a goal. Bedard spun and dished the puck to the other, Nick Foligno, for a point-blank attempt that Alex Nedeljkovic stopped.

Bedard had some prime chances himself as he returned about a week ahead of schedule.

Early Rust and Minus-2

Bedard was clearly rusty at the start. He had a rough first period, going minus-2 quickly as the Blackhawks fell behind 2-0.

But in the second period, the rookie was back in form. Bedard assisted on Kurashev’s tap-in goal at 8:22 of the middle frame with a nice pass to complete a 2-on-1 at the net.

Bedard came out rusty. USA Today Network, Jamie Sabau

Without Bedard…

The Blackhawks lost 4-2 at New Jersey on Jan. 5 when Devils defenseman Brendan Smith fractured Bedard’s jaw late in the first period with an open ice hit.

Counting that contest, the Blackhawks were 3-11-1 without the NHL’s top draft pick of 2023.

Crosby Dominates Rematch

As in the the Blackhawks’ season opener in Pittsburgh on Oct. 10, Bedard lost the opening faceoff to Crosby.

Just 15 seconds later the puck was in the net as Crosby deflected Marcus Pettersson’s bouncing shot from the point past befuddled Blackhawks back-up goalie Arvid Söderblom.

Söderblom stopped 22 shots in his first start since Jan. 24 at Seattle.

Smith upped it to 2-0 at 12:40 after Bedard turned the puck over just inside the Pittsburgh blue line.

Drew O’Connor picked off Bedard’s cross-ice pass and sped down left wing. O’Connor fed Smith, who drove down the slot and beat Söderblom on the short side with a backhander.

Bedard set up Kurashev to cut it to 2-1, just moments after Crosby powered into the Chicago zone and hit the left post with a shot.

Crosby scored his second goal of the game at 5:51 of the third, rapping in a rebound from the right side of the net to up make it 3-1. Rust’s empty-netter sealed it.