Chicago Blackhawks rookie phenom Connor Bedard left Friday’s game against the New Jersey Devils with an undisclosed injury after a big hit from Devils defenseman Brendan Smith in the first period. The Blackhawks announced at the start of the second period that Bedard would be out for the remainder of the contest.
The play occurred midway through the first period when Smith laid a big hit on Bedard, who was seen holding his mouth before heading to the locker room. Philipp Kurashev and Nick Foligno immediately came to the defense of their teammate, with Foligno receiving two roughing penalties in the process. Despite the penalties, the Blackhawks managed to kill off the penalty and even score on the power play to take a 1-0 lead.
Head coach Luke Richardson didn’t provide much of an update on Bedard after the game, stating that the team would have more information on Saturday. “I think he obviously banged his head,” Richardson said. “But I just got in there now and I hadn’t heard anything other than everybody’s coming home. We’ll get it checked out at home.”
While most of the Blackhawks didn’t seem to have an issue with Smith’s hit on Bedard, Boris Katchouk voiced his disagreement, calling the hit “dirty.” The loss of Bedard is another blow for the injury-plagued Blackhawks, who already have seven players on injured reserve, including Taylor Raddysh, Tyler Johnson, and Anthony Beauvillier, who were all placed on IR during the current five-game road trip. As the team awaits more information on Bedard’s injury, they will have to navigate the challenge of playing without another key player in their lineup.