Blackhawks were having a problem finding the net long before Connor Bedard's injury

The Chicago Blackhawks have scored just twice in the two games since losing Connor Bedard and have been outscored 7-2. But in the games preceding Bedard's injury, the Blackhawks had gone 3-7-2 across 12 contests and had just 27 goals to show for it.

That gave them a meager 2.25 per contest, but now that Bedard has been shelved for at least the rest of December, the Hawks need to get things going again before he returns. Fortunately for them, they have a decent scorer and a strong net-front presence in Tyler Bertuzzi, who has 16 goals on the year.

Bertuzzi has also been a scoring machine on the power play, where he has eight goals so far. If the Hawks can draw penalties, they can utilize Bertuzzi on the man advantage, and that could help kickstart their scoring again. 

Chicago Blackhawks have enough talent to start scoring again before Connor Bedard returns

The fact that finding the net has been a problem in the 12 games before the Hawks lost Bedard shouldn't be looked at as a bad thing. He was their leading scorer and will be again when he returns, but talents like Tyler Bertuzzi and the resurgent Andre Burakovsky have a golden opportunity here.

Burakovsky has just eight goals, but his 22.2 shooting percentage should tell fans that yes, he's more than capable of stepping up and providing scoring help. Teuvo Teravainen is in the same boat, with just six goals on the year but a sound 17.1 shooting percentage. Should Burakovsky and Teravainen start shooting the puck more, the Blackhawks will have two veterans picking up the slack in Bedard's absence. Right now, Burakovsky has just 36 shots on goal and Teravainen has 35, which rank 12th and 14th on the team, respectively.

Frank Nazar is the one player who should be ready and raring to step up. He has five goals and a meager 7.8 shooting percentage. Taking shots isn't his issue; it's finding a way to get the puck past the goaltender. There isn't a better time to fix those scoring issues than right now.

Further, Nazar has been a sound playmaker, with 15 assists. So, even if he doesn't find the net while Bedard's out, Nazar is more than capable of dishing the puck and letting a linemate finish sequences.

The Blackhawks learn to score now, they'll climb another rung when Connor Bedard returns

Of the 27 goals the Chicago Blackhawks scored between Nov. 20 and Dec. 12, Connor Bedard put up six of them, good for a half goal per game. That was also 22.2 percent of the team's goals in that stretch.

It shows the Hawks, minus Bedard, were having a rough time getting anything going. Now is their opportunity to turn the tide in their favor, especially with midseason approaching and the playoff races starting to tighten. 

That said, there's no time to lose, with the Hawks quickly falling behind the top wild card contenders in the Western Conference. They may have only played 33 games so far, but this team must realize its lack of scoring will quickly sink them if they don't fix their scoring woes immediately.