A hyped matchup between Connors Bedard and McDavid served as evidence of the wild contrast in the supporting casts of those two players, with McDavid’s Oilers beating Bedard’s Blackhawks 4-1 on Tuesday night in Edmonton.
The first goal of the game came off the stick of Bedard, who scored about three minutes into the game. Words don’t do it justice, so just watch the video of it:
More on that one later.
Edmonton took the lead into the first intermission, though, thanks to a pair of goals. First, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored on this drive to the net:
Then, Sam Gagner scored because Sam Gagner is contractually obligated to do something every freaking time he plays against the Blackhawks:
In the second period, Nikita Zaitsev embraced the spirit of the holiday season by gifting Leon Draisaitl this goal that made it a 3-1 Edmonton lead:
A Zach Hyman power-play goal early in the the third period put this one to bed early:
Chicago had no retort from there.
Notes
- Lost in the Connor Bedard highlight — and understandably so — was an outstanding stretch pass from Alex Vlasic to spring Bedard for the goal. It’s far from the first time Vlasic has connected on a pass like that and it’s another promising sign of his continued evolution into an NHL-worthy player. This highlight below showcases McDavid’s insane speed and skating ability but an underrated part of it is how well Vlasic keeps McDavid to the outside and has a stick ready to challenge McDavid as soon as he’d completed the spin:
- In the first period, Chicago had a 3-on-1 that died on the stick of Taylor Raddysh, who whiffed on what looked like an attempted pass back across the crease. Those are the little moments that never seem to develop for Raddysh, who seems less and less like a long-term piece here as the season continues.
- Go back to that RNH goal in the first period and it seems like the perfect example of one of the little things that Lukas Reichel isn’t doing well enough for coach Luke Richardson’s liking. As soon as Louis Crevier makes it known that he’s going to handle the puck-carrier on that rush, Reichel must get over to RNH as quick as possible to either deny the pass or make it so a shot is impossible to release. It doesn’t seem like a lack of effort, it just seems like a lack of play recognition by Reichel in that moment. Probably part of the reason why Reichel skated just 10:14 in this game.
- There will likely be some tough sledding for the Blackhawks in the short term, depending on how long Seth Jones’ injury keeps him sidelined. This was already a bad team with no depth. It’s lost one of its top forwards for the season in Taylor Hall and another hasn’t played in a month in Andreas Athanasiou. No, those aren’t “top” forwards on most teams, but that’s what we’re working with here. Now factor in the loss of that team’s No. 1 defenseman in Jones and probably it’s No. 3 or No. 4 guy in Kevin Korchinski, and a bad team is now significantly worse. Even the home-heavy December portions of this schedule aren’t going to help.
- But let’s end on the first goal of the night, which made this game feel like a win no matter what the scoreboard said at the end. It’s just a stupid amount of talent on display from Bedard. The speed with which he moves the puck from backhand to forehand while simultaneously moving the puck between Ekholm’s stick and skates before placing it perfectly under the bar? Bedard could’ve done that about 10 more times in the length of time it took to type this paragraph. Let’s just spend the rest of this space watching portions of the internet fawn over Bedard’s goal:
- Oh, one more thing: Bedard had one goal in his last 10 prior to this game. He opened the season with two goals in seven games and then ripped off eight goals in the next eight games. Wouldn’t be a shock to see a similar glutton of goals follow here.
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Connor McDavid (EDM) — 2 assists
- Sam Gagner (EDM) — 1 goal, 1 assist
- Connor Bedard (CHI) — the coolest goal of the night
What’s Next
The Blackhawks remain on the road to face the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night at 9 p.m.