Arguably all of the Blackhawks’ 15 victories this season can be traced to the contributions made by some combination of three players: rookie forward Connor Bedard, goalie Petr Mrazek and veteran forward Jason Dickinson.
That was the case again Saturday. Bedard scored his first goal since his return from a broken jaw and assisted on another, Dickinson tallied the game-winner in the waning minutes and Mrazek matched his season high in saves to help the Hawks beat the Senators 3-2 and snap an eight-game losing streak.
The crowd of 18,888 at the United Center thought for a moment that Bedard had given the Hawks the lead with 7:40 left when he deked around Senators goalie Joonas Korpisalo for a highlight-reel goal. But Bedard suspected all along the play might have been offside, and it was overturned after a quick challenge.
Dickinson made up for it later, however, when he fought for his own rebound in front and knocked it past Korpisalo to give the Hawks the lead with 1:52 left. It was their 11th consecutive victory against the Senators dating to 2017 — a remarkable streak, given how many bad teams have been involved in keeping it alive.
‘‘[We] persevered,’’ coach Luke Richardson said. ‘‘We got the goal by Connor, [but] it’s offside. We get it called back, and it’s a letdown in the building. And I think we played some of our better hockey at that point in the game. We didn’t let it [affect us], and we kept going.’’
Added Bedard: ‘‘We go into every game, every intermission, with the mindset that we’re going to win. Obviously, we haven’t had too many, but we never are going into a third thinking we’re going to lose. We felt pretty good . . . with the tie game and Mrazek playing well. We just needed the one, and we got it. So it was a good feeling.’’
Indeed, after Richardson’s nephew — Senators defenseman Jakob Chychrun — gave the visitors a lead halfway through the second period, Mrazek made a number of timely saves on odd-man rushes to prevent the game from unraveling. One of the rushes was enabled by a mistake by rookie defenseman Kevin Korchinski that led to his temporary benching.
Mrazek worked the same magic throughout the first few shifts of the third period and again in the final shifts after Dickinson’s goal. His final stat line of 40 saves on 42 shots was his finest of the season, besting his 40-for-43 line from a loss Oct. 24 to the Bruins.
‘‘Some of the saves he makes are absurd,’’ Bedard said. ‘‘He’s so quick and agile there, it’s crazy. You feel bad almost sometimes [for the opponents]. Like, we gave up a lot of chances — and obviously that’s something we’ve got to correct — but he’s there.’’
Bedard tied the score in the second period with an innocent shot that squeaked through Korpisalo. He has three points and nine shots on goal his first two games back in the lineup and has factored into a remarkable 39.1% of the Hawks’ goals in games he has played this season.
Bedard’s presence not only boosts linemates Philipp Kurashev and Nick Foligno (both of whom are riding five-game point streaks), but it also improves the Hawks’ scoring depth (by pushing guys such as Tyler Johnson down the depth chart), frees up space for others (by drawing a defense’s attention toward himself) and represents an emotional lift.
He hasn’t been flawless defensively in the two games since his return, but Richardson said he has given Bedard some positional reminders.
‘‘Not too often does an 18-year-old come in and have this kind of an impact on a team,’’ Dickinson said. ‘‘Very few players have the opportunity to do something like that, and even fewer take that opportunity and run with it.’’
