Connor Bedard made his highly anticipated season debut for the Chicago Blackhawks, recording an assist in a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night. Teuvo Teravainen and Roman Kantserov each scored twice, while Spencer Knight made 24 saves to improve Chicago to 1-1 on their seven-game homestand. Patrick Kane matched Phil Housley’s record for the most career assists by a U.S.-born player with 894.
Bedard, who had shoulder surgery in July, played a key role in the win, setting up Kantserov’s power-play goal in the first period. Sidney Crosby scored his first two goals of the season for Pittsburgh, including a rebound that tied the game at 3-all late in the third. It was Crosby’s 656th career goal, tying Brendan Shanahan for 14th on the NHL all-time list.
However, Teravainen broke the tie with 4:18 remaining, and Tyler Bertuzzi sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the final seconds. Chicago jumped out to an early lead just 28 seconds in, capitalizing on a Penguins turnover behind their own net. Pittsburgh responded to tie the game, but Chicago’s strong passing and power play gave them the edge.
The Blackhawks were without forward Frank Nazar, who served a two-game suspension for an illegal check against the New York Islanders.
Source: ESPN NHL · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing