4 worst Blackhawks losses of the Connor Bedard era

The Connor Bedard era in Chicago began on Oct. 10, 2023. Since then, the Original Six franchise has played 264 games, with the newly minted captain skating in only 231. On Saturday, the Blackhawks got blown out by the Carolina Hurricanes 9-2 as the reigning Stanley Cup champions put the boots to the young visitors.

Considering Chicago is loaded with young top prospects, losing 9-2 is bound to happen at some point. Still, in the fourth season since drafting Bedard, it’s fair to say that this sort of blowout defeat isn’t helping build any confidence among the fanbase that they've turned the page.

Interestingly, their most recent loss to the Hurricanes is the second time in the past three seasons that the Blackhawks have given up a touchdown and a two-point conversion. Moreover, it’s their fourth defeat by seven goals, a sharp reminder that there will be some rough days on the journey back to the mountaintop.

4 worst Blackhawks defeats of the Connor Bedard era

Oct. 30, 2023 @ Arizona Coyotes 8-1

In the ninth game of the 2023-24 season, the Blackhawks visited the Arizona Coyotes, where Bedard opened the scoring just 28 seconds into the game. However, just two minutes later, Michael Carcone got the Coyotes on the board with his first of three, to record his first and only NHL hat trick. Unfortunately for Chicago, that would be the first of eight consecutive goals Arizona would get en route to an 8-1 win.

There were two fights in the contest, with Nick Foligno dropping the gloves against Liam O’Brien and then Jarred Tinordi going against Jack McBain. Between the pipes, Arvid Söderblom took the loss with seven goals against in 35:26 of action.

Dec. 31, 2023 @ Dallas Stars 8-1

A couple of months after the Coyotes blowout, the Blackhawks rolled into Dallas to suffer a similar fate. Although there were no early goals, the Stars went up 3-0 in the first and sported a 5-0 lead after the second, when Philipp Kurashev scored a power-play goal for Chicago early in the third period.

However, Dallas tallied three more, including two from Mason Marchment to complete his second career hat trick. Surprisingly, the game featured only six minor penalties, and this time around, Petr Mrázek took the loss with six goals against in 44:46.

Nov. 21, 2025 @ Buffalo Sabres 9-3

During the 2024-25 season, the Blackhawks gave up a season-high five goals against the Vegas Golden Knights on Feb. 27, 2025. Then, a season later, they would surrender that total in four games, including giving up nine against the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 21, 2025. In another road blowout loss, Chicago fell behind 3-0 before Tyler Bertuzzi scored at the end of the first.

The Sabres went up 5-1 in the second before Alex Vlasic scored to make it 5-2, but the period ended with the home team up 6-2.

Bertuzzi collected a power-play goal just 24 seconds into the third, but Buffalo tacked on three more to secure its largest victory over the Original Six club. This game had even fewer penalties, just four minors, and no one in the Sabres lineup scored a hat trick, while Alex Tuch led the way with four assists.

Unfortunately, Söderblom remained in the game from start to finish, surrendering a career-high nine goals on 31 shots.

Nov. 7, 2026 @ Carolina Hurricanes 9-2

In arguably one of the ugliest Blackhawks performances in the Bedard era, they fell behind 4-0 to the Hurricanes in the first period, before heading into the third down 7-0. Rookie sensation Roman Kantserov tallied his ninth of the year to begin the final period, before Bedard made it 7-2.

However, the reigning champions tacked on two more goals to finish the night with a 9-2 win. Frank Nazar took the only penalty of the game, while Spencer Knight took the official loss with six goals against in 30:36, before Söderblom came in to mop up, surrendering three goals.

Final Perspective

Against the Hurricanes, the Blackhawks registered only 20 shots on goal, which is nearly three below their 31st-ranked average of 22.9 per game. Interestingly, Saturday’s total is the lowest in a blowout loss, and the totals are just getting lower. Against Arizona, they were outshot 33-30; in Dallas, the total was the worst, 41-24, while dropping to 31-23 against Buffalo.

Finally, it is worth noting that Söderblom has played a part in all four of these blowout losses, starting two and coming in relief in the other two. Also, Bedard has six points in these four particular contests, even though Chicago has scored a total of seven goals.

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