Eight games since Connor Bedard returned from his shoulder injury, the Blackhawks‘ young star is still searching for his first goal on a live goaltender.
Bedard was held in check again Sunday in a 5-1 home loss to the Panthers that snapped the Hawks’ three-game point streak.
He has just one goal — an empty-netter — and three assists in his eight appearances this month. That’s a far cry from his remarkable production before his December injury: 19 goals and 25 assists in 31 games.
“Since he’s been back, there have been moments when he’s going good and moments where he hasn’t,” coach Jeff Blashill said Sunday. “[When] you’re out a long time, it’s hard to get your mojo back sometimes.
“We’ve got to play with the lines. Maybe that has hurt him, not having consistency there. Sometimes you’re trying to help spark guys and you end up hurting them by making too many changes. But again, you can’t fault the work ethic, can’t fault the care [from Connor]. It just hasn’t gone the way that it had prior to him getting hurt.”
Last week, Bedard talked about remembering how he “felt great right away” when he returned from his broken jaw in February of his rookie season. He racked up six points in his first three games back that time.
He believed he was trending toward a similarly smooth return from this injury after his second game back Jan. 10 in Nashville. He notched two skillful primary assists and looked his usual self that night. But then the stomach bug that spread through the Hawks’ roster knocked him out for a game, and it took a few more days afterward to regain full strength.
Now, he’s still seeking an offensive rhythm as the Olympic break approaches. The Lightning held him without a shot on goal Friday for just the second time in 39 games this season. He recorded three shots on goal against the Panthers, but none were particularly high-danger.
He’s averaging only 3.6 individual scoring chances (per 60 minutes of five-on-five play) since returning, down from 8.0 per 60 minutes pre-injury.
Bedard also mentioned committing “a couple more turnovers than usual” and “bobbling the puck a little more” in his first few games back. He felt sharper in that category in the Hawks’ recent win over the Jets, but he did commit a handful more Sunday.
“No matter what you go through, [there will be] games where you feel good with the puck or not good with the puck, and that’s just part of it,” Bedard said.
As Blashill referenced, Bedard’s linemates have shuffled more often since he returned, and this weekend was a microcosm of that. On Friday, he started with Tyler Bertuzzi and Ilya Mikheyev and also spent time with Andre Burakovsky and Ryan Greene. On Sunday, he started with Burakovsky and Oliver Moore and also spent time with Nick Lardis.
It complicates matters that Bedard still needs someone to take faceoffs for him, but Blashill admitted to “probably over-searching [while] trying to find the right combination” in retrospect. He committed to sticking to one specific trio again come Tuesday at the Wild.
The Hawks’ recent power-play woes also aren’t helping Bedard, although Bedard’s woes aren’t helping the power play, either. That’s a chicken-or-egg situation.
The power play went 0-for-3 on Sunday — and that proved costly when the Panthers erupted for four goals in the third period, breaking open a 1-1 game. The power play is now 0-for-17 over the last seven games (following a 9-for-21 hot streak in the seven before that).
“We’re probably going to have to tweak it with some [new] players, stuff like that,” Blashill said. “Ultimately, we have to break the puck in better, and we have to win more loose-puck recoveries.”