Blackhawks defeat Penguins 5-3 in Connor Bedard's season debut

The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 at United Center on Tuesday, marking the season debut of captain Connor Bedard. Bedard recorded an assist in the victory, which snapped a two-game losing streak for the Blackhawks.

Bedard's Return and Performance

Bedard missed the first six games of the season recovering from offseason shoulder surgery for an injury sustained in a training session on July 2. He was initially expected to be out until November but returned after skating in a noncontact jersey since Oct. 5 and participating in full practices on Sunday and Monday.

"Felt good," Bedard said. "Nice to be back, and the energy and stuff felt pretty good. I thought our line created a decent amount of looks and it was fun."

Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill praised Bedard's effort to return quickly. "I thought he played pretty good," Blashill said. "I’m sure he’d say he had moments of good and probably a little rusty a couple of times. But overall to miss what he’s missed and to be able to come out and play that well is pretty impressive."

Scoring Highlights

Teuvo Teravainen led the Blackhawks with two goals and an assist, while rookie Roman Kantserov scored twice. Spencer Knight made 24 saves for Chicago, which improved to 2-5-0.

The scoring began early when Anton Frondell passed to Teravainen, who scored at 28 seconds of the first period. Kantserov added a power-play goal at 17:50, assisted by Bedard, to give Chicago a 2-1 lead. "It’s great," Kantserov said. "Before (in) games not scoring, just unlucky. The last game (a 5-2 loss against Carolina on Saturday) I had a great first NHL goal and now just keep going. It was great. Unbelievable."

Teravainen scored the game-winner at 15:42 of the third period, and Tyler Bertuzzi added an empty-net goal at 19:50 to secure the 5-3 final.

Penguins' Effort and Milestones

Sidney Crosby scored his first two goals of the season for the Penguins, who fell to 3-3-1. Sergei Murashov made 15 saves for Pittsburgh. Crosby tied the game 3-3 at 9:17 of the third period on a rebound.

"It wasn’t our best, but I think we did enough to be in the game," Crosby said. "You don’t play hockey that way. You’ve got to play the right way. If you leave it up to chance, that’s what happened tonight."

Penguins coach Dan Muse noted that his team allowed the game to become a "track meet," missing opportunities to possess the puck and work through the neutral zone.

Notable Records

Patrick Kane, playing on the top line with Bedard and Kantserov, recorded his 894th career assist, tying Phil Housley for the all-time lead among American-born players. Crosby’s two goals were his 655th and 656th of his career, moving him into a tie for 14th place on the NHL’s all-time list with Brendan Shanahan.

Andrei Kuzmenko returned for the Penguins after being granted non-roster status following the death of his father on Sept. 24. He had one shot on goal in 11:55 of ice time. Chicago forward Dominic Toninato played in his 200th NHL game.

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Sources

• nhl.com: Blackhawks win Bedard’s return as Teravainen, Kantserov each scores twice | NHL.com

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