Photo credit to @NHL on X.
This past weekend the league was put on notice with Connor Bedard scoring two goals in each of his last two games. These two-goal outings came against top tier opponents: the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers. Against the Lightning, Bedard posted a four-point night(2 goals and 2 assists), which included a three-point first period. He followed that up by posting two goals on four shots against the defending Eastern Conference Champions, Florida Panthers. He now has six goals in his last six games and is currently on a 56-goal pace at just 18-years old. Bedard is also the first player in Blackhawks franchise history to score 9+ goals in his first 13 games. He is just the 6th rookie to do that in the NHL since 1994. All the stats in the world still do not show half of how good he has been so far in his first 13 career games.
Thursday was just the start of Bedard-mania in Florida over the weekend. His four-point night was highlighted by two plays against the Lightning. First was a quick play in the neutral zone to start an odd man rush with him and Nick Foligno; Bedard was able to put the puck in the back of the net with some help from the Lightning.
That whole sequence started with an other-worldly play by Bedard in the neutral zone. He turned his stick over and used the toe of his stick to propel a pass to Foligno which started the rush that led to a goal.
This is an insane setup for someone like Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid, who have been there and done that. For Bedard to do that in his 12th career game at 18-years old, is absurd.
His next great play against the Lightning was an assist on Corey Perry’s power-play goal in which Bedard shot the puck, aiming for Perry’s stick, and was able to hit it for a tap-in goal to extend their lead.
A great play that will lead to a lot of goals down the road for the Blackhawks this season and well into the future.
Bedard-mania made its second stop in Sunrise, FL on Sunday afternoon. His first goal against the Florida Panthers was a quick steal of the puck from a Panthers defenseman and within two seconds, the puck was in the back of the net via a wicked Connor Bedard shot.
Bedard made this goal look so easy and effortless, but this shot is near impossible. That is how good he is, a play like this is done with no effort.
His second goal of the game against the Panthers was just as nifty. On a two-on-two rush, Bedard was able to make a quick stick handle around Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s stick to get a shot off on a bouncing puck to snipe one far side on Sergei Bobrovsky.
Connor Bedard now finds himself at a point per game so far in his very young NHL career with 13 points(nine goals and four assists) in 13 games. Bedard is starting to adapt to the NHL and it is a problem for the rest of the league. He is just scratching the surface and will be around for another 20+ years making plays like this on a nightly basis against every team in the league. His play is elite, and his goal celebrations are even better. As a Blackhawks fan, I am sure glad he is in Chicago for the foreseeable future.
Credit to @CRoumeliotis, @Buccigross, and @ckamka on X for their posts.
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