Blackhawks Have Great Opportunity With 8-Game Homestand

The numbers speak for themselves. Bedard is currently on a nine-game point streak, having registered eight goals, 11 assists and 19 points in that span. This includes his 50^th NHL goal which was part of his first career hat trick, scored against the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 28. He hit 150 points on Nov. 7 versus the Calgary Flames, becoming the youngest player in franchise history to do so.

Bedard has committed to his defensive play as well. He seems to understand the mentality that head coach Jeff Blasill has been trying to instill with the whole team. The coach said as much about Bedard after his hat trick on against the Senators.

Connor’s had a great start to the year. He’s done so many things the right way. He’s defending hard. He’s stopping on pucks. He’s doing a lot of things that are winning hockey habits. I think he’s created a lot of offense that hasn’t always ended up in goals necessarily. Whether it’s him or, making a pass, and just hasn’t (ended in a goal), for whatever reason. Certainly there’s been opportunities for nights like this, so for him to get rewarded for that I think is great.

It’s nice to see Connor have an offensive night like tonight, to get rewarded for the good two-way play that he’s had. Because what I don’t want is not to get rewarded and all the sudden you start cheating for your offense. Because that will equal not winning. And so he’s done it the right way, and good for him, it’s been great.

In 17 games played, the Bedard has recorded seven multi-point games. His 10 goals is first on the team, while his 16 assists and 26 points leads the rest of the team by a mile.

Everything seems to be coming together for Bedard, and it appears he’s just getting started.   

The Complementary Pieces: Bertuzzi, Burakovsky

It could easily be argued that Bedard is thriving this season because he finally has some complementary pieces around him, namely Andre Burakovsky and Tyler Bertuzzi.

Burakovsky and Bedard have basically been joined at the hip on the top line since training camp. Blashill indicated as soon as they acquired Burakovsky that he felt the veteran forward would be a good fit for Bedard, because Burakovsky has been successful playing with high-end players in the past. After all, he did win two Stanley Cups (2018 with the Washington Capitals and 2022 with the Colorado Avalanche) while contributing with highly skilled linemates. Ahead of the contest last week against the Seattle Kraken, Blashill expanded on this:

It is a skill (to play with highly talented players). I think you have to know, first off, you got to kind of get the feel of the player. Have to be a smart player. He (Burakovsky) is somebody who knows when to give it, and knows when to not give it. He knows when how to create space, can play off guys. His hockey smarts as well, he’s a good fit with Connor (Bedard) too, because he’s a good transporter of the puck. When I talked to the Colorado coaching staff, they said to me right away he’s a guy who’s a good transporter, which I thought would be a good fit for Connor.

I think there’s times where he can shoot and attack a little bit more, but he’s been a real good fit there. What I’ve really appreciated with him is how hard he’s played the game, how hard he’s worked to win battles, how hard he’s tracked back, because that’s an important piece. So if you’re playing with good players, you’re usually out there against good players. And he’s done a good job of that as well.

Another player that’s been finding success with Bedard (and vice versa) is Bertuzzi. They gelled on the power play, and Blashill has recently put Bertuzzi on the top line with Bedard and Burakovsky. He had this trio on the top line for a few contests in mid-October as well. Coach gave his reasoning for this at the time:  

Bert is somebody for me that I think he’s smart defensively. So he can help you in your own end. He gets pucks out pretty good on the wall, and then he’s on the puck a ton and he’s at the net hard. I think with Burky (Andre Burakovsky) and Connor (Bedard), they need someone that’s going to be at the net for sure. And Dacher (Colton Dach) can do that too. But Bert has more experience, more time in this league. So I just thought it was a spark maybe, that we needed last night (versus the Vancouver Canucks). And ultimately, I think it would have produced two goals if they counted the one. So we’ll probably give a look at that here in the next couple games and see how it goes.

Burakovsky currently has five goals and 10 points in his last seven games played (he didn’t play against the Devils due to illness), while Bertuzzi is on a four-game point streak that includes six goals and eight points. They are both in second (Bertuzzi) and third place (Burakovsky) behind Bedard in goals and points. Between the three of them, they’re giving the Blackhawks a lot of production, and they’re working together to do so.

Great Goaltending

It can’t be stressed enough the impact both Spencer Knight and backup goaltender Arvid Soderblom have had on this team to start the season. Both have played strong, covering up for defensive mistakes and giving the Blackhawks a chance to win every night.

On the season, Knight has suited up for 12 games with the Blackhawks. The 24-year-old boasts a .923 save percentage and a 2.46 goals against average. That save percentage currently ranks ninth in the league. This is quite the accomplishment considering the Blackhawks’ defense is a work in progress. Let’s face it, the Blackhawks would not be where they are right now without Knight’s stellar play in the crease.

Soderblom, for his part, has played in five contests and sports a .913 SV% and a 2.63 GAA. In his most recent contest versus the Detroit Red Wings, the 26-year-old made a career-high 45-of-46 saves for a stellar .978 SV% in a 5-1 win.

Knight and Soderblom have combined for an excellent tandem in the crease, which is something these young Blackhawks need to help build their confidence and lead to more success.  

Blackhawks’ Drive for Success; Blashill Pushing the Right Buttons

As mentioned above, the Blackhawks didn’t start their road trip on the right foot. But they regrouped and battled back, and ended the trip with three consecutive wins. The same could be said about the beginning of their homestand. They played a little flat against the Devils, but still earned a point in a 4-3 OT loss. Team captain Nick Foligno said it well when asked about their first game back on home ice:

I think that’s the hard part for me, because as I told you, I don’t really love moral victories. But it’s hard not to say that yeah, we’ve grown. This is a game that probably years previous that I’ve been here, we would have lost by three or four because it would’ve just crumbled on us. So I’m encouraged by that, but I still don’t want to be okay with not winning this game. And so that’s the message in here, is like good job battling, and we only didn’t have our best, and maybe we’re missing some guys. But every team misses players and every team doesn’t have their best. But the good teams find ways to win, and that’s the message. And just maybe the bad taste in everyone’s mouth is, even though we didn’t have our best, we should still find a way to win. And we got to get to that, to being that team, and that’ll be pretty exciting when we do.

It seems like the Blackhawks are really starting to believe in each other, and that they have a chance to win every night.

Coach Blashill’s footprint is all over this as well. I’ve quoted him a lot in this piece, because he seems to be pushing all the right buttons and getting the best out of his players. He’s preaching winning habits, and the Blackhawks want to get into the habit of winning. Blashill was asked about taking advantage of the homestand, and he put it into good perspective:

It’s generally harder to win on the road. Not always, but generally it is that way. So you want to take advantage of your home games, and certainly a homestand like this you’d like to take advantage. But I think a good thing about this group is we haven’t gotten too far ahead of ourselves.

We’ll play tomorrow’s game and then learn from that game. And that’s kind of the approach we’ve taken…it’s nice for guys to be home after being gone for a long time. But from a hockey standpoint, we’re not really thinking of it as a long homestand as much as really honestly the next game. That can sound like coach-speak, but that’s reality. And I think our team’s done a really good job of that.

So, the Blackhawks are taking it day by day. They will regroup and do what they can to win against the Toronto Maple Leafs this Saturday (Nov. 15). Then they will do it all over again for the Calgary Flames on Nov. 18, and then the Seattle Kraken on Nov. 20…you get the idea.

Once it’s all said and done, we shall see how many home games the Blackhawks will win, and how much they’ve grown and progressed. But there’s no denying this homestand presents a great opportunity ahead of them.