BOSTON — Connor Bedard’s first NHL goal didn’t showcase his one-of-a-kind release or incredible wrist strength or perfect accuracy, as one would have guessed.
In fact, the puck never even left his stick until it crossed the goal line.
But Bedard’s slick wraparound five minutes into the first period Wednesday, opening his professional account in the Blackhawks’ 3-1 loss to the Bruins, was certainly impressive nonetheless.
Leading up to it, he seamlessly gathered an off-the-mark pass along the blue line by going skate to stick, executed a no-look give-and-go sequence with Ryan Donato, fired a shot on goal from a tight angle and chased the puck down behind the net. And then — after all that — he pulled off a move that relatively few NHL forwards can pull off with the right speed and timing.
We figured Connor Bedard’s first NHL goal would be a perfectly released wrist shot.
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) October 11, 2023
Nope, it was a slick wraparound instead.
He just keeps showing new dimensions — and it’s only been two games. pic.twitter.com/chAEcrRnTd
The 18-year-old phenom just keeps unveiling new dimensions to his game.
“I remember being behind the net and seeing it and I was like, ‘Don’t screw this up,’” Bedard said. “Once it went in, [it was] a lot of joy, for sure.”
Added veteran forward Nick Foligno: “We were saying, ‘If there was a wraparound on the bingo card, we wouldn’t have had that one.’ But he’s starting to show what he can really do.”
With the goal, Bedard became the first No. 1 draft pick to record a point in each of his first two games since Nathan MacKinnon in 2013. Neither Connor McDavid in 2015, Auston Matthews in 2016 nor Jack Hughes in 2019 accomplished that feat.
The funny aspect is Bedard felt as if he was enduring a scoring drought entering Wednesday, given his only goal in five games (four preseason and Tuesday’s opener) since the rookie tournament had been an empty-netter. It didn’t take him long to snap that drought.
The issue for the Hawks, however, is how singularly reliant upon Bedard they were to generate offense. That’s not a great recipe in hockey, where even the best players spend nearly two-thirds of the game on the bench.
During Bedard’s five-on-five ice time, the Hawks had a 12-11 edge in shots on goal and managed a 10-10 split of scoring chances. But during five-on-five shifts without Bedard, the numbers heavily favored the Bruins: 17-6 in shots on goal, 24-12 in scoring chances.
At times, the Hawks struggled to get out of their defensive zone, particularly during the second period.
And in the offensive zone, Lukas Reichel — whom the Hawks need and expect to take a big step forward this season, regardless of Bedard’s spotlight-grabbing highlights — hasn’t found his stride yet. He and Bedard were united late in the third period and nearly tied the game on a two-on-one, but that was Reichel’s only memorable moment.
To be fair, the Hawks’ depth forward lines did contribute quite a bit Tuesday, and Taylor Hall’s mid-game injury Wednesday — which bumped Andreas Athanasiou up into the top six, costing Cole Guttman and Boris Katchouk a regular linemate — did disrupt things. The Bruins are also a tough matchup for anybody, even without retired captain Patrice Bergeron; they embarrassed the Hawks 6-1 at TD Garden last year.
But this is hardly a surprising development for a Hawks team that, last season without Bedard, scored the fewest five-on-five goals — and created the fewest five-on-five scoring chances — in the league.
It will likely be a recurring problem again this season.
“We didn’t have much in the first two periods other than Connor’s goal,” coach Luke Richardson said. “We did a good job scrambling to defend in the second period. But what we need to do is play a simpler game when it’s not our night, when things aren’t clicking. ... [That can] create more simple shots to create maybe rebound chances.”
