Connor Bedard is back to playing well at the Hockey World Championship

Connor Bedard kicked off the Hockey World Championship as the superstar of the tournament. The Chicago Blackhawks superstar then struggled in Canada's final four games during pool play.

There is no reason to be concerned that Bedard was not playing well. This is a tournament where not every nation has the full complement of the best players with the Stanley Cup Playoffs going on. Also, this is a tournament playing for the love of country and not Stanley Cup glory.

Thankfully, Bedard is back to playing well in the tournament during Canada's 6-3 quarterfinal victory over Slovakia.

Bedard was moved down to being the extra forward. He ended up skating for 12 minutes and picked up the primary assist on Canada's third goal.

He also had three shots on goal. Bedard looks like the player who was the rockstar at the tournament's beginning.

Connor also looked feisty and ready to crush anyone who crossed him.

What is good to see is the Blackhawks star continues to rebound from adversity. He came back stronger than ever after a fractured jaw knocked him out for six weeks.

Then he added a point to his scoring ledger in this tournament where he started to look like a normal hockey player. Now he looked like the player we are all used to seeing.

Bedard is one of three Blackhawks players still playing in this tournament.

Switzerland defeated Germany 3-1. That means Bedard will face his linemate Philipp Kurashev. It also means Kurashev was part of the Swiss team that eliminated Lukas Reichel. However, Kurashev was scratched in Switzerland's victory.

Team USA was shut out by Czechia. Petr Mrazek was not in goal, but it also means Seth Jones and Alex Vlasic are out of the tournament. Mrazek not playing much is a good thing as it allows the team's starting goalie to not exert himself too much while Jones and Vlasic can now get started on their offseason.

Reichel can also get a little relaxation after having a whirlwind past couple of weeks of wrapping up the regular season with the Blackhawks, playing for the Rockford IceHogs in the Calder Cup Playoffs, and then the Hockey World Championship.

It was great to see Reichel play well. It is nice to see Mrazek get a shut out win, but not be exerted so much, and it is even better to see Bedard bounce back and play well.