In the first meeting Thursday night between the Nos. 1 and 2 picks in this year’s NHL draft, Hawks forward Connor Bedard assisted on the only goal of the game as the Blackhawks edged forward Leo Carlsson and the Ducks 1-0 at the United Center.
Hawks goalie Petr Mrazek was the star, however, earning his first shutout in three seasons with a 37-save masterpiece.
“It’s been a long time,” Mrazek said. “I don’t remember the last time when I had one. It feels good.”
Bedard set up forward Philipp Kurashev for a power-play strike halfway through the second period, and Mrazek handled things the rest of the way, making a huge save against Ducks star Frank Vatrano late in the second period and another against Ryan Strome with three minutes left in the third.
Carlsson, whom the Ducks selected ahead of Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli in June, right after the Hawks nabbed Bedard, was largely held in check.
“We were only out there [together] for one shift against each other,” Bedard said. “I asked him what he thought of the anthem. He said it was pretty cool.”
Bedard, from Vancouver, and Carlsson, from Karlstad, Sweden, are friends for now, but they may well evolve into friendly rivals — in the mold of Alex Ovechkin vs. Evgeni Malkin, the top two picks of 2004, for example.
They got to know each other during the draft lead-up and briefly met up again Wednesday to discuss “all the great players we have to play against every night,” as Carlsson put it.
The Ducks have handled their star rookie significantly differently than the Hawks have handled theirs. Carlsson has been put on what coach Greg Cronin called a “load-management program” to limit his workload while he gains strength. He has been a healthy scratch eight times and entered Thursday averaging 18:15 of ice time in his 17 games, about 75 seconds less than Bedard.
Carlsson now has 13 points in 18 games, compared to Bedard’s 21 points in 25 games.
“He’s shifty, and he’s surveying the ice,” Cronin said. “He does those things you can see naturally talented players do consistently. When he continues to fill out physically, he’s going to be a dominant force in this league.”
Tinordi concussed
Jarred Tinordi’s return to the Hawks’ lineup didn’t last long. After missing a month with an oblique injury, the veteran defenseman played just three more games before suffering a concussion Tuesday while delivering a hit on Predators forward Juuso Parssinen in the third period.
“I’m sure he’s frustrated,” coach Luke Richardson said. “Hopefully he’s not too bad. Sometimes [concussion symptoms] linger, and sometimes people respond well to them. Coming out right away, [at least] there’s no secondary hits.”
The Hawks elected not to call up anyone from Rockford and instead shifted right-handed Connor Murphy over to play the left side Thursday while rookie Louis Crevier made his second NHL appearance.
Andreas Athanasiou’s injury absence continues to get longer, too. The speedy forward hurt his groin Nov. 9 and was initially deemed week-to-week, but he’s going to end up missing well over a month. He has been doing work in the gym but still hasn’t resumed skating on his own, although that sounds like it’ll happen soon.
Homebodies
Despite the NHL expanding its number and variety of international games (in Europe and now Australia) seemingly every year, the Hawks don’t anticipate traveling abroad next season or the season after, according to a source.
