Connor Bedard returns, Blackhawks beat Penguins 5-3

Just last week, Chicago enjoyed a special night when Patrick Kane returned to the United Center as a Blackhawk for the first time since 2023. But it's safe to say Connor Bedard one-upped him on this night, when the Hawks hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins and Bedard made his return from shoulder surgery.

Bedard was centering the top line and participating on the top power play unit when the Hawks hosted the 3-2-1 Pittsburgh Penguins and Bedard's childhood idol, Sidney Crosby. Coincidentally, the Pens and Crosby were the first team he ever played in his NHL debut, as well as the club he suited up against upon returning from a broken jaw later in his rookie season. How fitting.

Turns out the Blackhawks (currently 1-5-0 before this game) improved their record to 2-5-0, as they came away with a 5-3 win in this one. Let's get to the lineup decisions and game reaction.

Blackhawks lineup & special teams

Roman Kantserov - Connor Bedard - Patrick Kane

Tyler Bertuzzi - Anton Frondell - Teuvo Teravainen

Cole Smith - Ryan Greene - Jordan Greenway

Oliver Moore - Dominic Toninato - Ryan Donato

Bowen Byram - Artyom Levshunov

Alex Vlasic - Ian Cole

Wyatt Kaiser - Sam Rinzel

Spencer Knight/Arvid Soderblom

Scratches: Kevin Korchinski, Ethan Del Mastro, Andrew Mangiapane (lower body), Frank Nazar (2nd game of two-game suspension), Nick Lardis (re-assigned to the Rockford IceHogs)

Power Play Units

PP1: Bertuzzi, Bedard-Kantserov-Kane, Byram

PP2: Moore, Teravainen-Donato-Frondell, Rinzel

Notable changes here include Bedard on his natural left side and Kane returning to his natural right side on the flanks of the top unit. Anton Frondell was therefore moved down to the second unit, with Teuvo Teravainen standing in for the still suspended Frank Nazar. Nick Lardis, who has struggled to start the season, was a healthy scratch for this contest.

Penalty Kill Participants

Teravainen, Frondell, Vlasic, Byram, Greenway, Greene, Levshunov, Kaiser, Smith, Cole

Blackhawks Game Notes

• It didn't take long for the action to get started in this one. Just 28 seconds and on the first shift of the game, Teuvo Teravainen was wide open in front of the net for his first goal of the season. It was a perfect pass from Anton Frondell. Tyler Bertuzzi was credited with the secondary assist.

• However, Crosby himself to tie things up at the 6:57 mark, 1-1. Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson efficiently slid the puck past the defense and right to Crosby for what looked like a rather easy goal.

• But the Blackhawks were awarded a power play towards the end of the first frame that resulted in a goal by Roman Kantserov (his second of the season and in the same amount of games). It was the first time Bedard and Kane were on the man advantage together, and it paid off with some lovely puck movement.

• Bedard provided the primary assist and Bowen Byram the secondary. It was both player's first points of the season. 2-1 for the Blackhawks at the end of the first, with the Hawks up 9-7 in shots on goal.

• Just past the halfway point of the game, Kantserov scored his second goal of the night to give the Blackhawks a 3-1 lead. The assists were provided by Artyom Levshunov (nice pass!) and Kane. Kantserov was in the perfect spot in front of the net. By the way, stay until the end for the big bear hug by Arty!

• But the Penguins kept at it and got one back towards the end of the second frame. Nick Robertson found the back of the net from up close, cutting the Blackhawk's lead to 3-2. At first there was some question about whether the puck actually went in, but it did before sliding under the net and out the other side. Pittsburgh outshot the Hawks 13-7 in the second frame, forcing goaltender Spencer Knight to make some strong saves.

• With about 10 minutes to go in the game, Knight fumbled a rebound & Crosby scored his second of the game to tie it, 3-3. There was some question about whether it was offside, but the goal stood.

• Just when everyone thought this game was headed to overtime, Teravainen chucked one on net for his second goal of the game to make it 4-3 for the Blackhawks (it was also his second of the season). The tally was assisted by Ryan Greene and Cole Smith.

• The Penguins emptied their net with about two minutes to go, but the Blackhawks had plenty of chances to seal the deal. They were getting a little too cute trying to get Teravainen a hat trick, but they finally got the job done. Frondell to Bertuzzi gave the Blackhawks a 5-3 win. Teravainen was credited with the secondary assist.

Sidenote: Lost in all the fanfare, this was Rockford IceHog's call up Dominic Toninato's 200th NHL game. I wrote about the 32-year-old journeyman as part of my Blackhawks Notebook recently. Toninato is known as a trustworthy and defensively dependable center, and he's not too shabby at winning faceoffs either. He actually won 3-of-5 on this night, for a 60% success rate.

Once it was all said and done, this was the second win of the season for the Blackhawks, and on Bedard's return! A feel good night, for sure.

Quotable Quotes

Kane seemed most happy about the Blackhawks finally getting a power play goal. He talked about how Bedard's presence on the top unit really seemed to help them gel. "On the power play, we moved it around pretty well. Seemed very connected. Seemed we had some good rotations and had some good looks there. So you know, pretty good for the for the first night overall, and hopefully just continue to get a bit better, talk about some things, and understand each other a little bit more. But yeah, that was pretty good on that (goal)."

Bedard, for his part, was super happy to be back playing, and he said he felt good all night. Despite being the superstar he is, and the new face of the franchise, he still expressed his awe to be playing with Kane. “Special player, him & Roman, made the game so easy for me tonight. It’s special. I don't want to pump him up too much, but you watch that your whole life, & obviously getting to play alongside him, & have him on our team is special.”

Head coach Jeff Blashill was the one to speak the praises of Bedard, plus throw in a good word for Kantserov. "Connor creates separation a lot, so it creates space. And then when the other two have space, they're really really good players, so it's just a good kind of combo. And the other thing I'd say is Roman is very happy going to the net. So you still have a guy who will go to the net on the line because sometimes I think those kind of lines get too spread out, and you don't get any play at the net. I thought they did a pretty good job of doing that. You know, I think when they check for their offense, they're going to be really, really good."

This seems to be just a glimpse of what the future holds, and we didn't even touch on the Bertuzzi-Frondell-Teravainen line, who had a solid night as well. It's just one game, but Blackhawk's fans should be excited about the future after this performance.

The Blackhawks continue their homestand, hosting the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday (Oct. 15) and the Dallas Stars on Saturday (Oct. 17), before having a five day break between games. As Kane said, "Hopefully we can create a little momentum here and use it (moving forward)."

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