Detroit News staff and wires
Anna Segedi and Mellissa Channell-Watkins on PWHL game at LCA
Anna Segedi, left, and Mellissa Channell-Watkins will play for Vancouver in Saturday’s PWHL game at LCA.
Chicago – Chicago Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill praised Connor Bedard’s all-around game a day after the center was left off Canada’s roster for the upcoming Winter Olympics.
The 20-year-old Bedard is on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. He skated before practice on Monday and could return this month.
Bedard ranked among the NHL leaders with 19 goals and 25 assists in 31 games before he got hurt on Dec. 12 at St. Louis. Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong said Wednesday that Bedard was in the mix “right there to the last second,” and the injury wasn’t much of a factor in the decision.
While acknowledging the difficulty of finalizing Canada’s roster for the 2026 Games, Blashill took aim at some of the conversation surrounding Bedard in his third season since he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft.
“I don’t think the rest of the league knows how good of a two-way winning hockey player Connor has become,” said Blashill, who was hired in May. “That’s the one thing probably, and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s based on previous years. But I don’t think they have a full understanding of how good a winning hockey player he is today.”
Bedard was a gifted offensive playmaker long before his NHL debut in October 2023. But the other parts of his game have come a long way since he first joined the Blackhawks.
He is a plus-eight this season after he had a plus-minus rating of minus-80 while playing on two last-place teams in his first two years in the league. He has won 47% of his faceoffs, up from 38.3% last season.
Blashill indicated that some of the reservations about Bedard have more to do with the limitations of defensive metrics than the center’s play on the ice.
The Blackhawks went 13-12-6 in their first 31 games with Bedard, who still could be added to Team Canada as an injury replacement. They are 2-6-1 since he got hurt.
“That’s the impact he’s had. That’s the type of two-way player (he is),” Blashill said before Thursday’s 4-3 victory over Dallas. “You don’t have that impact if you’re just a point-getter. You only have that impact if you’re a true two-way kind of winning player, and that’s what he’s become.”
Chicago also has been playing without Frank Nazar, who was placed on IR on Sunday after he was hit in the face by a puck during a 6-4 loss at Ottawa on Dec. 20. He is expected to be sidelined for approximately four weeks.
The Blackhawks lost another center when Jason Dickinson left Tuesday night’s 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Islanders with an unspecified injury. But Dickinson skated on Thursday morning and played almost 19 minutes in the win against the Stars.
Thursday NHL
Utah 7, (at) N.Y. Islanders 2: Dylan Guenther had his first career hat trick and added an assist and the Utah Mammoth topped the New York Islanders 7-2 on Thursday.
Nick Schmaltz scored twice and added an assist, Clayton Keller and Mikhail Sergachev each had a goal and two assists, while Lawson Crouse and Barrett Hayton each had two assists.
Cal Ritchie and Matthew Schaefer scored for New York, and Max Shabanov had two assists. David Rittich made nine saves on 14 shots, but was replaced by Marcus Hogberg 5:41 into the third period.
(At) Ottawa 4, Washington 3: Fabian Zetterlund scored with less that two-and-a-half minutes remaining to give Ottawa a win over Washington.
David Perron, Ridly Greig and Nick Jensen also scored for Ottawa. Leevi Merilainen made 26 saves and helped Ottawa snap a three-game skid.
The Capitals (21-15-5), playing the second game of a back-to-back, had jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome. Logan Thompson made 28 saves.
(At) Toronto 6, Winnipeg 5: Auston Matthews scored his 14th career hat trick and added an assist to lead Toronto to a comeback win against struggling Winnipeg .
Jets goalie Eric Comrie could not freeze a loose puck at the side of his goal and it slid to a wide-open Matthews in front who completed his hat trick and snapped a 5-all deadlock with 4:22 remaining.
Winnipeg squandered a 4-1 lead for its eighth loss in a row. Mark Scheifele scored two goals and set up another to lead the Jets.
Montreal 7, (at) Carolina 5: Cole Caufield and Josh Anderson scored 23 seconds apart in the second period, and Montreal erased a two-goal deficit in beating Carolina.
Sammy Blais had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, who have a five-game point streak after winning for the third time in four games. Nick Suzuki, Oliver Kapanen, Juraj Slafkovsky and Lane Hutson also scored.
Sebastian Aho had two goals and three assists to become the first Carolina player with more than three points in a game this season. Andrei Svechnikov and Nikolaj Ehlers each added a goal and two assists.
Tampa Bay 5, (at) L.A. Kings 3: Gage Goncalves scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:41 to play, and Tampa Bay rallied from a late deficit to beat Los Angeles for their sixth consecutive victory.
Brayden Point had his first two-goal game of the season and Kucherov capped a three-point night by putting his 19th goal into an empty net for the Lightning, who have won back-to-back games to begin their three-game California road trip.
Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and an assist apiece on the power play for the Kings, who collapsed late in their eighth loss in 10 games despite scoring multiple man-advantage goals for the first time all season
Local schedules
Thursday
▶ Penguins 4, Red Wings 3 (OT)
Friday
▶ Chicago at Grand Rapids, 7
▶ Western Michigan at Notre Dame, 7
▶ Michigan Tech vs. Air Force in Tempe, 5
▶ Sioux City at NTDP U17, 7
World Junior Quarterfinals
▶ Sweden vs. Latvia, 2
▶ Czechia vs. Switzerland, 3:30
▶ United State vs. Finland, 5
▶ Canada vs. Slovakia, 7:30
Saturday
▶ Pittsburgh at Red Wings, noon
▶ Grand Rapids at Chicago, 8
▶ NTDP U18 at Michigan, 7
▶ Notre Dame at Western Michigan, 6
▶ Michigan Tech vs. Alaska Anchorage or Arizona State in Tempe, TBA
▶ Northern Michigan at Lake Superior State, 6:07
▶ Sioux City at NTDP 17, 7
▶ Vancouver Goldeneyes vs. Boston Fleet at LCA, 7
Sunday
▶ NTDP 18 at Michigan State
▶ Northern Michigan at Lake Superior State, 6:07
Monday, Jan. 5
▶ Red Wings at Ottawa, 7:30
Wednesday, Jan. 7
▶ Texas at Grand Rapids, 7
Thursday, Jan. 8
▶ Vancouver at Red Wings, 7
Friday, Jan. 9
▶ Texas at Grand Rapids, 7
▶ Notre Dame at Michigan, 7
▶ Michigan State at Ohio State, 6:30
▶ Western Michigan at Denver, 9
▶ Michigan Tech at Bemidji State, 8:07
▶ Augustana at Northern Michigan, 7:07
▶ Adrian College at NTDP U18, 7
▶ NTDP U17 at Dubuque, 8:05
Saturday, Jan. 10
▶ Red Wings at Montreal, 7
▶ Notre Dame at Michigan, 7
▶ Michigan State at Ohio State, 5
▶ Western Michigan at Denver, 8
▶ Michigan Tech at Bemidji State, 7:07
▶ Augustana at Northern Michigan, 6:07
▶ Trine University at NTDP U18, 7
▶ NTDP U17 at Dubuque, 8:05
Monday, Jan. 12
▶ Carolina at Red Wings, 7
Tuesday, Jan. 13
▶ Red Wings at Boston, 7:30
▶ Grand Rapids at Milwaukee, 8
Wednesday, Jan. 14
▶ NTDP 17 at Youngstown, 7:05
Thursday, Jan. 15
▶ Michigan State at Wisconsin, 9
Friday, Jan. 16
▶ San Jose at Red Wings, 7
▶ Rockford at Grand Rapids, 7
▶ Michigan at Minnesota, 8
▶ Michigan State at Wisconsin, 8
▶ Minnesota State at Michigan Tech, 7:07
Saturday, Jan. 17
▶ Ottawa at Red Wings, 5
▶ Milwaukee at Grand Rapids, 7
▶ Michigan at Minnesota, 7
▶ Minnesota State at Michigan Tech, 6:07
▶ Green Bay at NTDP U17, 7
Sunday, Jan. 18
▶ Green Bay at NTDP U18, 4
Want to comment on this story? Become a subscriber today. Click here.