Connor Bedard: Short Side Release
Connor Bedard broke his pointless streak last night against Utah, a night that landed him both a goal and an assist, his goal allowing the Blackhawks to beat Utah in overtime as well. With Bedard, even though he was pointless for around 6-7 games at that time, he was still showcasing his skill and generating chances. It’s really hard to generate chances on this Blackhawks team regularly, where Bedard is one of few that does so.
What was really great about his goal last night isn’t just the fact that it was an OT winner, but also because of how Bedard picked his spot to score on the short side of the net. Bedard did a really great job of finding space on the short side of Karel Vejmelka, not allowing Vejmelka to get set up in net easily, and not allowing him to shift across his crease and maneuver laterally.
Bedard was showcasing terrific ability to maneuver out of the D Zone and be able to come underneath the puck initially, which allowed him to get the puck back to his D and then sprint up ice right away. With D1 Ethan Del Mastro activating on the weak side of the ice, Bedard sprints up ice in the neutral zone to make himself available, and he comes underneath to support Del Mastro on the entry to gain space.
Bedard slows down, handles the puck on entry, and handles the bouncing puck to settle it down. Then, Bedard circles around the net, waiting for Teuvo Teravainen to come into the zone and support the play as well.
Bedard circles high, and then maneuvers laterally across the high slot, and delivers a crisp short side release that allows the Blackhawks to come away with a 4-3 OT win.