CALGARY — It’d be easy enough to build this story around Tyler Bertuzzi, who’s doing what Tyler Bertuzzi does — hanging around the net and scoring in bunches.
With two more goals in the Chicago Blackhawks’ thorough 4-0 trouncing of the hapless Calgary Flames on Friday night, Bertuzzi now has five goals in his last four periods, and briefly took the team lead in that category with eight total. On any other night, he’d be the story.
Spencer Knight is worthy of a thousand words here, too. Two nights after coming up 191 seconds short of his first shutout with the Blackhawks, the goaltender slammed the door on the Flames, stopping all 33 shots he faced — 11 of them from Matt Coronato alone. Knight leads the league in goals saved above expected by a mile, and his .926 save percentage is second among all No. 1 goalies in the NHL. On any other night, he’d be the story.
Frank Nazar was the headline for a while. When he crumpled to the ice after a cross-check to the knee from Calgary’s Joel Farabee in the first period, the Blackhawks’ second-line center grabbed his left leg and struggled to get up, skating off very slowly on mostly one leg.
A writer could be excused for missing most of the third period as he threw together a comprehensive list of possible replacements at 2C — none of whom, quite frankly, could measure up to what Nazar’s done this season. Even after coach Jeff Blashill calmed some fans’ frayed nerves by describing him as day to day after the game, not even ruling him out for Sunday’s matinee in Detroit, on any other night, he’d still be the story.
However, Connor Bedard is always the story. The linchpin of this entire Blackhawks project is always the focus. For his first season, that story was about the excitement and hope he injected into Chicago. For his second, it was all the consternation — mainly from those who weren’t watching nightly — about how he wasn’t living up to the ludicrous hype he never asked for, how he wasn’t as good as Macklin Celebrini, how he was merely good, probably not great, certainly not generational.
However, this season, this road trip, this night, Bedard was the story because he was the best player on the ice. And, in his third season, he’s starting to look like one of the best players in the world. He had a primary assist on each of the Blackhawks’ first three goals. A sensational steal-and-score for the final goal, picking Morgan Frost’s pocket at the blue line and undressing Dustin Wolf in the crease. Six goals and nine assists during his seven-game point streak. Briefly tying for the league lead in scoring with — who else? — Celebrini.
Bertuzzi credited Bedard’s speed and commitment to defense. Knight credited Bedard’s hockey IQ and vision. Blashill credited his attitude. “Winning hockey” is Blashill’s umbrella term for playing the right way, for not cheating defensively, for checking for your offense.
“And he’s led the way with that,” Blashill said.
All the hand-wringing over Bedard’s scoring droughts last year, and his (relatively) slow start this season — two goals in his first eight games? It’s all gone now. Heck, anyone who saw those first eight games knew better, anyway.
“Even early in the year, when he wasn’t maybe getting the points that I thought maybe he could have had, there were a lot of plays he made that just for whatever reason didn’t result in as many points,” Blashill said. “What he’s done all season long is he has played a complete game. That’s where I think his growth has been awesome.”
Bedard’s goal to close out the win over Calgary was Bedard’s entire season in microcosm. The way he came back to pressure Frost rather than let him waltz through the neutral zone, even though the game was already in hand with a three-goal lead and just two minutes left. The way he read Frost’s body language and used a quick stick to take the puck right off him. The way he quickly accelerated toward Wolf with his newfound, hard-earned speed. The way he got Wolf to bite on the backhand before coming all the way back with the forehand tuck. The way he stared down the beleaguered Calgary crowd with a blasé, Jordanesque shrug of a celebration.
The defense. The offense. The skill. The sass. This is what Bedard can be. This is what he has become.
“Fortunately, it worked out for me,” Bedard said.
It’s been working out a lot lately. He’s been excellent all season, but he’s been utterly dominant these last seven games — a menace on nearly every shift. And now 15 games into what’s turning into his breakout season, there’s no reason to think he can’t keep it up.
“Sometimes the points come and sometimes they don’t,” he said. “For me, it’s about the process. Getting chances, making plays — that’s when they come. There are going to be games where I don’t get any. There are going to be stretches where I don’t get any. But (I’ll) just keep trying to make plays and be productive, and hopefully they come.”
Bedard, naturally, would prefer to focus on the team. He wants to talk about Bertuzzi’s uncanny ability to redirect pucks into the net from close range, or Knight’s relentless excellence in net, or the way the Blackhawks continued their season-long mission to, in Bedard’s words, “not take any s—,” engaging in a trio of fights — starting with Colton Dach going after Farabee for the knee on Nazar — in a chippy contest.
And they deserve the recognition. The Blackhawks are a solid 7-5-3 through 15 games and are now 2-2-1 on their longest road trip in nearly nine years, currently ensconced in the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. It’s modest success, sure, but it’s far better than anyone in Chicago could have reasonably expected. In particular, Knight has been brilliant. His shutout was the Blackhawks’ first since Petr Mrázek blanked the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 7, 2023.
Knight, naturally, deferred to the team.
“After juniors, you kind of stop worrying about (shutouts),” he said. “You just want to win. I think that’s one thing I’ve noticed being in the NHL — if you can come back in the locker room with a win, regardless of what it is, it’s a good feeling. I thought it was a really good team effort. Guys played really hard in all areas of the ice.”
Meanwhile, Bertuzzi came agonizingly close to his second straight hat trick. He, too, deferred to the team.
“Obviously, it’s good,” he said of scoring five in two before immediately pivoting to the group. “Two back-to-back wins on the road. Long road trip, these are hard games to win, especially on the back of a road trip where you’re on the road for 10 days. It’s a really good team win. Three fights, standing up for each other, some big blocks and some great goaltending. It’s a great 60 (minutes) for our team.”
And it was a team win. All wins are. Go through the Blackhawks’ bus and you’ll find contributors in just about every seat, from André Burakovsky on the top line to Louis Crevier as the seventh defenseman.
But there’s no mistaking who’s driving.
“It’s been fun. He’s obviously an elite talent,” Blashill said of Bedard, “and he’s playing at a high, high level.”