Connor Bedard Returns, Sidney Crosby Scores Two in a 4-1 Win vs. Chicago 2/15/2024

   Connor Bedard made his return to the lineup to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in Chicago on Thursday, February 15th. Sidney Crosby scored two goals for the Penguins in their 4-1 win against the Blackhawks… Philipp Kurashev scored the lone goal for Chicago and Bedard recorded his first point being back in the lineup.

Penguins lineup against the Blackhawks:

Rakell – Crosby – Rust

Smith – Malkin – O’Connor

Puustinen – Eller – Puljujarvi

Gruden – Carter – White

Pettersson – Letang

Graves – Karlsson

Ludvig – Ruhwedel

Nedeljkovic

Jarry

Blackhawks lineup against the Penguins:

Bedard – Foligno – Kurashev

Donato – Dickinson – Anderson

Blackwell – Johnson – Raddysh

Katchouk – Sanford – Entwistle

Vlasic – Jones

Korchinski – Megna

Crevier – Phillips

Soderblom

Mrazek

   Just 15 seconds into the first period, Sidney Crosby got his 29th goal of the season. Marcus Pettersson shot from the left point and Crosby tipped it in, redirecting the puck and it went over Arvid Soderblom’s left shoulder. At 7:20 remaining in the first frame, Reilly Smith took a pass from Drew O’Connor to score his tenth goal of the season. Smith scored a backhanded shot after a rush started in the Penguins’ defensive zone… Connor Bedard sent over a cross-ice pass that ended up getting knocked down by O’Connor.

   Philipp Kurashev struck the lone goal for Chicago at 11:38 of the middle frame. Connor Bedard skated into the right circle after he had picked up the puck in the blue line after Kevin Korchinski kept it in the zone. Bedard passed it to Kurashev in front of the net where he scored on a feed from Bedard to cut the lead 2-1.

   Sidney Crosby struck again with his 30th goal of the season in the final frame. Crosby scored on a rebound of a shot by Rickard Rakell at 14:09 for a 3-1 lead. Bryan Rust wrapped it up by striking the empty net with a short-handed goal for the 4-1 final.

Sidney Crosby on the Penguins’ 4-1 win in Chicago and Connor Bedard returning to the lineup: “I thought we generated some good chances. When it was two-nothing there in the second, I thought we could have built on it. We had some really good looks… they’re a dangerous team and hung around – I’m just happy to get a win, and obviously, we can build off this. We need the points,” – “He looked pretty good for coming off extended time being injured and getting back into it. He’s a special player and there are times when it doesn’t look like he’s got a lot of room and he’s making something out of nothing. He’s dangerous.”

Connor Bedard on the way his line played, whether he was targeting, and his thoughts on not being able to play after skating for a few weeks: “I thought our line, in general, took a step in the second and third and created a good amount,” – “Personally targeting? Probably earlier. But obviously, you got to be safe and smart – Overall, it’s a positive thing because I’ve been skating for four weeks now and I felt confident coming in because of that. But you also kind of feel normal and it’s like you’re on the sidelines, so that sucks. I was fortunate enough to be able to skate and work out kind of the whole time. I don’t want to look at that as a negative.”

Notes:

– Connor Bedard made his return after being out since January 5th, when he had sustained a broken jaw during a game against the New Jersey Devils.

– Arvid Soderblom played in his first game since January 24th… he made 23 saves for Chicago.

– Alex Nedeljkovic made 27 saves for Pittsburgh… Both Rickard Rakell and Marcus Pettersson assisted on both Sidney Crosby’s goals.

– Pittsburgh played without Jake Guentzel, who is expected to be out for about four weeks. Guentzel sustained an upper-body injury in a 5-2 loss against the Florida Panthers on the 14th of February.

– Sidney Crosby became the second active player to record 12-plus 30-goal campaigns… he trails behind Alex Ovechkin (17). Crosby also scored his ninth career goal within the opening 30 seconds of a game, passing Bob Gainey (eight) for the most in NHL history.

   Crosby has 15 goals in the opening minute, the most in NHL history.