Colin Blackwell scored three goals to help the Blackhawks beat the Coyotes on Sunday.
Erin Hooley/AP Photos
Seth Jones’ comment about it was meant to be funny, but it couldn’t have been truer: the Blackhawks wish they could play the Coyotes more often.
Two matchups against the NHL’s most dysfunctional franchise in a six-day span provided a perfect opportunity for the Hawks to spark their offense. They took full advantage, rallying past the Coyotes 7-4 on Sunday at the United Center to follow up on their 5-2 victory Tuesday in Arizona.
Those are the Hawks’ only two wins in their last 10 games, but they were as energizing as any two wins could be for a last-place team. The Hawks’ seven goals Sunday marked their most since March 8, 2022 — more than two calendar years ago — whereas Tuesday snapped the longest road losing streak in franchise history.
“We showed some clips from the last game [about] what worked and what didn’t work,” Jones said. “We didn’t execute in the first period, but…then we got going.”
Colin Blackwell deposited two scrappy rebound goals and then hit the empty net in the final minutes to complete his first career hat trick.
Given the adversity he has persevered throughout over the past year — missing 10 months with a sports hernia and then nearly getting traded at last week’s deadline despite a strong desire not to move — and how well he has played defensively on Jason Dickinson’s line since December, it was a well-deserved accomplishment.
“Obviously, I missed a lot of time in the beginning of the year, so [I have] 17 more games here to prove that this is where I want to be,” Blackwell said.
Plenty of other Hawks generated things to feel good about, too. Jones tallied a career-high four assists. Tyler Johnson buried the go-ahead goal late in the second period. Ryan Donato added two points as reward for some effective forechecking. And goalie Arvid Soderblom made 32 saves — including a sprawling beauty in the third period to deny Coyotes star Clayton Keller a hat trick — while earning wins in consecutive starts for the first time.
But what about Connor Bedard, the teenager whom all 18,666 fans in attendance came to see and whose successes and failures simply matter more long-term than anyone else’s? Well, he finally got the breakthrough he sought, too, finishing the night with three points.
The rookie star entered Sunday having gone eight consecutive games without a goal — his longest drought of the season. But it wasn’t as if defenses had been shutting him down or learning how to contain him. He had simply run into some bad luck, hot goalies and regression.
Hawks coach Luke Richardson often mentions how fortunate bounce can break the dam for a snakebitten player, and that was exactly what happened to Bedard. With the Hawks trailing 2-0 early in the second period, he tried to pass from behind the net to Reese Johnson, but the puck instead bounced off Coyotes defenseman J.J. Moser and over the line.
“I knew I needed a miracle to put one in, so that was nice,” Bedard said. “But it doesn’t matter how you get them. It’s about getting them, so that was nice to see that one go in.”
The immediate confidence boost was evident as Bedard dominated the rest of that shift, then scored a highlight-reel toe-drag goal on a power play shortly thereafter.
He created Johnson’s goal by sweeping around the zone and sending a pinpoint no-look pass to the back door. Then he nearly completed his own hat trick — which would’ve been his first in the NHL — on a two-on-one rush with Blackwell in the third. He has individually recorded 29 shot attempts, 12 shots on goal and 14 scoring chances during just the last two games combined.
“He’s probably thinking it’s not enough, but we’re happy for him,” Richardson said, grinning.