Connor Bedard scored his 100th career NHL point as the Chicago Blackhawks (14–28–2) lost to the Calgary Flames (21–14–7) 5–2 Monday night at the United Center. Calgary was led by forward Jakob Pelletier with two goals and an assist.
Bedard (112 games) required the fewest games by a teenager to reach 100 career points since Sidney Crosby needed only 80 games in 2005–06.
After the game, fans could not help but noticed a defeated Bedard as he answered questions.
“Right now, I couldn’t care less, but, yeah, ask me in a couple days and probably look at it a little different, but just frustrated right now,” Bedard said. “Do I feel powerless? No, I’m a player on the team. We’re all in this as one, and we’ve got a lot of work to do, obviously. Our record shows that.”
Petr Mrazek (8–16–1) stopped 31 shots in the losing effort. Mrazek has now squandered at least four goals in seven of his last nine starts.
First period
Pelletier opened the scoring at the 1:14 mark with a nice snap shot that many would call a soft goal behind Mrazek. The goal, assisted by forward Rory Kerins, who was making his NHL debut, and defenseman Brayden Pachal, gave Pelletier his second goal of the season.
Chicago would bounce right back when defenseman Louis Crevier fired the equalizer behind Calgary goaltender Dustin Wolf for his second goal of the season. The goal, assisted by Lukas Reichel, came off a turnover by the Flames in their own zone that found the puck on Reichel’s stick, who found Crevier.
Louis Crevier scores his 2nd goal of the season, and Chicago responds quickly. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/hwCdAPYOfg
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 14, 2025
Pelletier scored his second goal of the period when he fired a wrist shot past Mrazek at the 11:47 mark of the period. Mikael Backland would waste no time extending the Flames’ lead to 3–1 with a tip-in at the 14:08 mark of the period. Forward Matt Coronato found a loose puck in front of Mrazek and fired a shot that tipped Backlund’s stick before finding its way into the back of the net.
Calgary goal!
Scored by Matt Coronato with 05:52 remaining in the 1st period.
Chicago: 1
Calgary: 3#CGYvsCHI #Blackhawks #Flames pic.twitter.com/mQTzUvrJ2L— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 14, 2025
Chicago was outshot 14–7 in the period and that seemed to be not as bad as the home team was playing on the ice.
Second period
Calgary extended its lead to 4–1 with defenseman Jake Bean’s second goal of the season at the 1:55 mark of the middle frame. The goal, assisted by forward Yegor Sharngovich and Pelletier, ricocheted off the boards behind Mrazek and found the stick of Bean for a wide-open net.
Calgary goal!
Scored by Jake Bean with 18:05 remaining in the 2nd period.
Assisted by Yegor Sharangovich and Jakob Pelletier.
Chicago: 1
Calgary: 4#CGYvsCHI #Blackhawks #Flames pic.twitter.com/w5joaymKAS— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 14, 2025
The Blackhawks would cut the lead to 4–2 as Bedard scored his 12th goal of the season on the power play. The goal gave the 19-year-old his 100th point of his short NHL career. As the team’s only hope to score offensively most nights, whether with a slick assist or nifty goal, Bedard continues to show he is the real deal in this league.
Power play goal for Chicago!
Scored by Connor Bedard with 08:31 remaining in the 2nd period.
Assisted by Seth Jones and Teuvo Teravainen.
Chicago: 2
Calgary: 4#CGYvsCHI #Blackhawks #Flames pic.twitter.com/N6iSlQ03Ja— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 14, 2025
Sharangovich scored his seventh goal of the season shorthanded when he fired a wrist shot past Mrazek to give the Flames a 5–2 lead, the score the away team would win the affair.
Third period
Chicago could not muster much in the last period and somewhat looked disinterested in making any sort of comeback. Chicago would be outshot 10–8 as the Flames went into prevent mode and the lack of talent up and down the roster showed as the home team never really put any sort of pressure on the Flames.
Analysis
Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen continue to be the offense for this lackluster team. Fans need to watch the young phenom most nights, as he is usually the only piece that is worth the price of admission.
Reichel won all seven of his faceoffs on the night. That is impressive for anyone, let alone Reichel, who is winning just 40.6% of his draws for his career.
Anything else about Monday’s game was terrible. The “dog days” of January are amongst us and this team will be unwatchable most nights, and that is not just because they are blacked out or not on a channel fans receive.
Chicago skates into Tennessee for a 7 p.m. CST puck drop against the Nashville Predators on Thursday, seen on CHSN and FDSNSO.