Connor Bedard seems to find a way to put jaws on the floor every time he touches the puck. On Wednesday night, he did so with a gorgeous overtime winner that lifted the Chicago Blackhawks over the Winnipeg Jets.
Bedard opened the scoring with a beautiful effort to poke home his own rebound in the first period, and the teams went to overtime deadlocked at 1-1. It was then that Bedard provided a moment that Blackhawks fans won't soon forget.
Defenseman Alex Vlasic slid a pass to Bedard in the Chicago zone, and the rookie superstar did the rest. Bedard started churning his feet, and he picked up speed through the neutral zone. The two Jets with any chance of stopping Bedard backpedaled too far and gave him enough space to rip a shot past Connor Hellebuyck.
CONNOR BEDARD OT WINNER. IT'S OVER ‼️ pic.twitter.com/TT9wWulWoQ
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 28, 2023
That was Bedard's first overtime goal, and it probably won't be his last. It was also Bedard's 15th tally of his rookie season, and he is on pace for 36 goals as a rookie. That would be the most since Auston Matthews scored 40 in the 2016-17 campaign.
Those two goals against the Jets continued the torrid pace that Bedard has been on over the last couple weeks. Bedard is riding a five-game point streak, and he has three goals and five assists in that stretch.
