Connor Bedard Scores Two, Colin Blackwell Earns First Career Hat Trick | 3/10/2024

   Clayton Keller gave Arizona the 1-0 lead at 13:51 of the first period when both teams were playing 4-on-4. Keller beat Arvid Soderblom with a wrister in the slot after cutting across the right circle. Keller’s goal had been the only goal throughout the opening 20.

   Only 11 seconds into the middle frame, Clayton Keller struck his second goal of the night and his 25th of the season to make it a two-nothing game. He scored on the breakaway after receiving a lead pass from Nick Schmaltz. At 14:32, putting the Blackhawks on the board – Connor Bedard went for his 18th goal of the season to cut it 2-1. The puck banked off J.J. Moser’s leg from behind the net… not long after Bedard’s goal, Colin Blackwell tied it 2-2 after he put in on a rebound off Alex Vlasic’s shot, which had been at the blue line. Scoring his second of the night for his 19th NHL career goal, Bedard gave Chicago the lead during a 5-on-3 power play. Bedard defeated Connor Ingram with a beautiful wrist shot after he took a pass in the right circle and cut into the slot. At 6:03 of the second, Dylan Guenther tied the game back up 3-3 when he put in a rebound in front… Tyler Johnson put the Blackhawks back in the lead, 4-3, on the power play off a cross-ice pass from Bedard for a one-timer with 2:10 remaining.

   Colin Blackwell scored his second of the night just 33 seconds into the third when he put in the rebound of Seth Jones’ backhanded shot. Scoring the final goal for Arizona, Nick Schmaltz cut it to 5-4 after his original shot had been saved by Arvid Soderblom. He went for it again from the left circle with a snap shot for his 19th goal of the season. At 12:00, Ryan Donato made it a 6-4 game when he sent a wrist shot past Connor Ingram from the right circle. Hunting down his third of the night to complete the hat trick – Blackwell struck the empty net for his first career hat trick and the 7-4 final.

Colin Blackwell on when he saw his hat-trick goal get into the net: “Thank God… Against Calgary, I had one and I was just a little too antsy. For me, it’s a cool gesture. It’s come a long way, especially over the last 12 months or so here. So to be able to get a hat trick, it was pretty special.”

Connor Bedard on scoring and almost recording his first NHL career hat trick: “I need a miracle to put one in, so that was nice. But it doesn’t matter, obviously, how you get them. It’s about getting them, so it was nice to see that one go in. I don’t know how or who it went off of, but it was nice,” – “It’s kind of an obvious answer, but yes. You always want to score goals. You’re not playing thinking about it but you always want to score… If I was any good, I’d put it in, but unfortunately, it slid off.”

Notes:

– Seth Jones recorded four assists… Connor Bedard is the first 18-year-old in Blackhawks history with three career three-point games, Patrick Kane being the only other player with two for Chicago.

– The Chicago Blackhawks agreed to terms with Landon Slaggert on a two-year, entry-level contract that runs through the 2024-25 season.

– Arvid Soderblom saved a total of 32 saves for Chicago, and Connor Ingram made a total of 34 saves.

– Nick Schmaltz had a goal and recorded two assists… Clayton Keller’s goal into the opening 11 seconds of the second period marked the Arizona Coyotes’ fastest start in a period since November 11th, 2019 (Christian Fischer’s being 10 seconds into the second period).