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Scoring 20 goals wasn’t enough for Connor Bedard. He wanted to tie the single-game point record in Blackhawks history.
Bedard had five points, including four assists in Chicago’s 7-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night. The fifth point capped off what had been a wild game that included seven goals, Philipp Kurashev’s 100th career goal, and Petr Mrazek and John Gibson getting nailed for misconduct penalties during a scrum midway through the third period.
Lost in all of it? The Blackhawks now have a combined 14 goals in their last two games, burying seven apiece in wins against Arizona on Sunday and now Anaheim. Oh, and not to mention a two-game winning streak, just their second streak of the season.
Anaheim opened the scoring and actually held a 2-1 lead until the Blackhawks reeled off six unanswered. The goals came from the Nick Foligno-Bedard-Kurashev line which was a force all night long.
The stats pop out like a box score from NHL 24. Foligno? Four assists. Kurashev? Four points with two goals and two assists. And of course, Bedard’s five points.
It was a hell of a night for the Blackhawks.
Connor Bedard Hits 20 Goals, 50 Points in the Same Night
Bedard not only hit the 20-goal mark but he also notched 50 points on the season. With the fifth point, he vaulted to 51 points which puts him just a point shy of being a point-per-game. The rookie has been on absolute fire, having 10 points (3-7) in his last four games.
For anyone thinking he wouldn’t skate away with the Calder Trophy as the league’s best rookie, it seems like a foregone conclusion now. On a team with just 18 victories on the season, Bedard has far and away been its best player and carrying a team in the rock bottom portion of the season.
But it was anything but rock bottom Tuesday night. Instead the United Center crowd and the team was all out rocking.
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Two Teams Linked to a Trade with Bruins for Pavel Zacha
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Browns make curious decision with rookie QB Shedeur Sanders
The Cleveland Browns are giving Shedeur Sanders special treatment in training camp, but it's not the type of favoritism the fifth-round pick would necessarily want. Per Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN, Sanders is the only Browns quarterback who has not been taking reps with the first-team offense during OTAs or the first two practices of training camp. Former Pittsburgh Steelers first-round pick Kenny Pickett, veteran Joe Flacco and rookie Dillon Gabriel have all split reps with the first team. Despite being asked to throw passes to members of the equipment staff amid a shortage of professional pass-catchers for a four-quarterback roster, Sanders said he's thankful for the opportunity to show the Browns coaching staff his talents. "I feel like that it's not in my control, so I'm not going to think about that or even have that in my thought process of why it is," Sanders said to a question as to why he's not getting first-team reps. "There's a lot of people who want to have the opportunity to be at this level, and I'm here and I'm thankful to have the opportunity. So, whenever that is, that is." Sanders, 23, believes that he can contribute more to the Browns than what the coaching staff is asking of him. "It doesn't make me feel down or left out because I know who I am as a person," Sanders said. "I know who I am as an individual and I know what I could bring to this team. So, I can never feel less than any circumstance." The Browns selected Sanders with the No. 144 pick in April's draft. As a player whom many draft analysts thought was a first-round talent, Cleveland took what could be the steal of the draft in the fifth round. It's curious why the Browns aren't giving Sanders a shot with the first team early in training camp before the quarterback race becomes more serious. Cleveland should absolutely see what Sanders has to offer this summer. Flacco, 40, isn't a long-term solution at the position. Pickett failed in Pittsburgh. The Browns need to gauge what rookies Gabriel and Sanders can do with the first team. Having Sanders throw balls to the equipment staff is a waste of everyone's time. But then again, Cleveland has wasted plenty of quarterbacks.
New suitor emerges for Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez
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Cleveland Guardians Slapped With Bad News Before Trade Deadline
The Cleveland Guardians are quite a mystery heading into the MLB trade deadline, as no one seems to know whether they will buy, sell or possibly even do nothing before July 31. The Guardians are hovering around .500, but they are still smack dab in the middle of the American League Wild Card race. That's in spite of losing 10 straight just before the All-Star break. Even with Cleveland remaining in contention, there are some who believe the Guardians might sell given their conservative nature, but talk show host Bruce Drennan has provided some rather bad news for the team in that regard: the players they might want to move don't have much value. “No top prospects for a big bat, and I don’t necessarily see us selling players, like Carlos Santana or Lane Thomas. What can you get in return?” Drennan said. Drennan has a point. Santana and Thomas are both impending free agents, and neither has been all that good this season. Santana owns a .665 OPS, and Thomas has been on and off the injured list while hitting just .160 on the year. Of course, the Guardians would surely be able to land a hefty return for players like Steven Kwan and Emmanuel Clase, but it does not seem like Cleveland is going to move either of those two stars. Perhaps the Guardians will surprise some people and go all in by adding pieces at the deadline, but that isn't exactly in their nature. We'll see what happens before the end of the months, but it stands to reason that Cleveland might just stand pat, as Drennan anticipates. Read More Cleveland Guardians Coverage
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