Thanks to a spectacular four-point performance, including two goals, from prodigy Connor Bedard, the Chicago Blackhawks secured a 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.
At the very end of the first period, the best in class in the National Hockey League’s most recent amateur auction received Nick Foligno’s pass before thwarting Jonas Johansson with a backhand. Check out Connor Bedard’s highlights above.
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With this goal, Bedard became the youngest player in Blackhawks history to score at least two goals in the same game. He had previously scored a goal and an assist. He then assisted on Corey Perry’s goal in the opening moments of the second period.
The latter also returned to Amalie Arena for the first time since the exchange that brought him with the Illinois organization.
However, things were going well for Jon Cooper’s side and they took a 1-0 lead thanks to Anthony Cirelli with 3:20 minutes remaining in the first game. Nikita Kucherov responded to Bedard’s equalizer, but it was Steven Stamkos, who was the last Bolts player in the third period to light the game’s red light.
The Hawks will cross swords with the Panthers on Sunday. As for the Lightning, they will host the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
The Canucks are still on the move
Despite the Ottawa Senators’ clear dominance in shots, Casey DeSmith made 28 saves on 30 shots to give the Vancouver Canucks a 5-2 win at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Once again the Ottawa club didn’t give up and thanks to Drake Batherson and Artem Zub they got back into the game after being down 2-0 after three minutes of play.
However, the British Columbia team was not daunted by the return of the local favorites and scored three unanswered goals on the way to victory. In this win, Elias Pettersson impressed again, turning the red light once and adding two assists.
The Swedish star now has 24 points in 13 games.
Ilya Mikheyev shot the puck twice into Anton Forsberg’s net. JT Miller and Brock Boeser were the Canucks’ other two scorers.
A hat-trick for Charlie Coyle
Thanks to three goals from forward Charlie Coyle, the Boston Bruins recorded their 11th win in 13 games this season, beating the New York Islanders 5-2.
The No. 13 team from Massachusetts completed his hat trick at the very end of the game in an empty net.
The third period was simply fatal for the Islanders. Despite the equalizer to make it 2-2 at 2:50 in the final period, David Pastrnak’s goal less than 60 seconds later simply provided the breakthrough.
This net also proved to be the winning goal in this duel.
The Bruins face the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday evening at the Bell Centre.