The Connor Bedard Show continued its tour of the southeastern United States on Sunday afternoon despite a 4-3 Chicago Blackhawks loss to the Florida Panthers on Sunday afternoon.
Florida opened the scoring just 39 seconds into the game:
About seven minutes later, Jason Dickinson tied the game after a neat pass from Lukas Reichel:
Florida took the lead back later in the period on this power-play tally from Sam Reinhart:
And then Bedard started doing Bedard things.
First up was this solo effort to steal the puck and bury a shot under the bar, making it a 2-2 game in the final minute of the first period:
The Bedard Show was interrupted when Reinhart scored at the 7:00 mark of the second to make it a 3-2 Panthers lead:
And then Bedard did this:
More on that goal later.
The decisive tally came from Carter Verhaeghe about three minutes into the third period, putting Florida head 4-3 for good.
Notes
- Florida owned the puck for significant stretches of play in Chicago’s end during this game and it seems like that was partially due to the Hawks struggling mightily at breaking the puck out of their own end. Endless pucks played up the boards to no one in particular or to forwards who were soon greeted by a pinching Florida defensemen who was more than happy to take the puck and keep the play going. There are multiple ways to combat this, with using the middle of the ice for breakouts or long flips out of the zone to relieve the pressure chief among them. These mistakes were being made by veterans and youngsters alike and they’re also symptomatic of a ferocious Florida forecheck. Growing pains, but something to improve upon going forward.
- Arvid Soderblom looks like he may be fighting it a bit right now because he’s usually a positionally sound goalie, but there were several instances of him swimming in his own crease or losing the net completely. Those tend to be indicative of a goalie struggling with confidence issues. Hopefully just a small blip on the radar and he’s finds his more reliable form again soon.
- So, about those Bedard goals.
A certain overzealous Twitter account may have suggested this puck was in mid-air when Bedard shoots the puck. It probably is not (and Bedard said as much postgame) … but it is on edge. And Bedard still put that puck directly where it needed to go, which is an absurdly difficult thing to do all in one motion without breaking stride. It’s ridiculous.
- The first goal also displays Bedard’s incredible hockey skill while also providing a glimpse into the cerebral side of his game, allowing him to diagnose what was happening and pick off this pass before firing a shot just under the bar while Bobrovsky is going down for a poke check:
- Chicago was outplayed by pretty substantial margins in this game, but a couple of individual efforts from Bedard made it a one-goal game and if Tyler Johnson had connected on that final attempt at the net, the Blackhawks could’ve stolen a point — or more — from this game. Now imagine what this Blackhawks team would be like if it assembles a quality team around Bedard and then they still have a player capable of generating a goal or two completely by himself.
Should be a pretty fun team to watch then, eh?
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Connor Bedard (CHI) — 2 goals, each cooler than the ones Reinhart scored
- Sam Reinhart (FLA) — 2 goals, 2 assists
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson (FLA) — 1 goal, 1 assist
What’s Next
The Blackhawks return home for a few days off before facing the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday at the United Center at 7 p.m.