Connor Bedard secured his second hat trick in three weeks on Tuesday with a pair of third-period goals that propelled the Chicago Blackhawks past Calgary.
A 5-2 victory hinged on his heroics, although other teammates are helping lately, too.
Chicago enters Thursday’s visit from the Seattle Kraken at 5-0-1 in its past six games, a welcome roll for a young group.
“We just feed off each other and we’re learning how to win, so it’s fun,” Bedard said.
The surge comes with additional growth for Bedard, the top pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. While he sports an “A” on the back of his sweater every night to help spell his surname, Tuesday marked the debut of the letter on the front.
The 20-year old Bedard served as an alternate captain for the first time in his career as the Blackhawks navigated injuries to several veterans. The club placed captain Nick Foligno (left hand) on injured reserve this week, and Jason Dickinson and Tyler Bertuzzi also have been out of the lineup.
“Those guys, that’s who I’ve learned from the past two years, and I try to just keep becoming a better leader,” Bedard said. “Obviously, wearing this jersey is special. Getting to be part of that leadership is a huge honor and it’s something that none of us would take for granted and especially myself.”
Bedard has 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) in his past 11 games while another young center Frank Nazar, 21, has assists in two straight since returning from injury.
Seattle can clinch the season series with Chicago with a victory. The Kraken defeated the visiting Blackhawks 3-1 on Nov. 3 as Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle each tallied a goal and assist.
The Kraken are 3-3-1 since that night, including Tuesday’s 4-2 loss in Detroit in the opener of a four-game road trip. While Eberle and Beniers stayed active, with the former scoring a power-play goal on an assist from the latter, Seattle struggled with offensive consistency.
Goaltender Joey Daccord, who defeated Chicago this month, returned to the lineup Tuesday in his first action since sustaining an upper-body injury Nov. 5. He stopped 23 of 26 shots.
“I don’t think we had everyone going and we can’t afford to have anybody not going,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “We were OK in the game, but not good enough to win the hockey game. So, there’s certain things and certain reasons for that, but certainly I thought we could have been better.”
One starting point Lambert suggested: Generating more shot attempts. After outscoring Winnipeg and San Jose by a combined 9-4 margin to win its previous two games, Seattle had just 22 shots in Detroit.
“There’s always effort. Our guys work,” Lambert said. “To me, they work and they give it everything they have. I don’t think we shot the puck enough.”
Eberle, the Kraken captain, became the fourth player in franchise history to skate in 300 games with the expansion club, now in its fifth season. The 16-year veteran has competed in 1,079 career contests with Seattle, the New York Islanders (2017-21) and the Edmonton Oilers (2010-17).
