The Blackhawks took on the Lightning Thursday night at the Amalie Arena to kick off their mom’s trip. With a four point effort (2G, 2A) from Connor Bedard, Chicago shot down Tampa Bay to win their fifth game of the season 5-3. Here are three things to know before they take on the Florida Panthers.
1. The hockey phenom made history
Bedard tied the game 1-1 in the first period after tipping in a shot from Philipp Kurashev past Lightning goaltender Jonas Johansson. He also scored the fourth goal of the period off a pass from Nick Foligno with seven seconds left. Bedard picked up assists off of Kevin Korchinski’s first NHL goal and Corey Perry’s third goal of the season.
With two goals and two assists, Bedard became the youngest player in Blackhawks history to record a multi-goal game. He also became the third-youngest player in NHL history to score four or more points in a game. Bedard made history in 12 games played and currently has 11 points on the season. He’ll continue to dazzle Blackhawks fans for years to come.
2. Korchinski scored his first NHL goal
Deflecting off of Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh’s skate and into the net, Korchinski scored his first NHL goal in front of his mom. In the post-game interviews, he said he was originally aiming for MacKenzie Entwistle’s stick and got a lucky bounce. Korchinski will likely stay with the team for the remainder of the season, as he didn’t return to the WHL after nine games.
3. Chicago lost three players to injury during the game
The Blackhawks were left with 10 forwards and five defensemen after Jarred Tinordi, Andreas Athanasiou, and Taylor Hall all went to the locker room at different points of the game. Tinordi left after the first period, and the Blackhawks announced he wouldn’t be returning. Today he was placed on the injured reserve with an oblique injury, and defenseman Isaak Phillips got recalled from Rockford to fill his spot.
Athanasiou left the game for unknown reasons, but he went to the locker room two different times in the second period and didn’t come back for the third. As of right now, there’s no update on his condition. Hall took a hard hit from Lightning forward Michael Eyssimont and went down into the boards. He held his right leg in pain before heading into the locker room. Reese Johnson and Boris Katchouk will likely draw back into the lineup if neither forward is ready to come back by tomorrow.
Other highlights include Foligno picking up three assists and Petr Mrázek making 30 saves on 32 shots. The Blackhawks play their second game of the mom’s trip against the Florida Panthers tomorrow at 12 p.m. CT at the Amerant Bank Arena.
ITR 39: Conference Finals – Inside The Rink
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