Connor Bedard earns another hat trick, literally leads Blackhawks past Flames

Connor Bedard waited more than two years for his first NHL hat trick. He now has two hat tricks in his last 10 games.

The young star’s latest three-goal eruption led the Blackhawks past the Flames 5-2 on Tuesday, extending the Hawks’ point streak to six consecutive games — their longest since 2019.

Bedard ripped a perfect shot over Flames goalie Dustin Wolf off a perfect pass from rookie Ryan Greene to give the Hawks — who are now 10-5-4 — the lead for good with 15 minutes to play.

Then he sealed the result with as impressive of an empty-net goal as you’ll ever see: a 156-foot airborne shot after stealing the puck in the defensive zone.

“That’s what stars do,” Ryan Donato said.

Bedard first got on the board in the second period, utilizing his increased speed to chase down a flipped-out puck and poke it through Wolf’s five-hole. He’s now tied for second in the league with 13 goals this season.

“What I like the most about it is the consistency in his approach,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “Points do come and go. Now, for a guy like him, they come more than they go. But…he’s competed and stopped on pucks and played pretty good defensively. [He] really tries to do the right things on a consistent basis, and then he gets rewarded for that with offense.”

Bedard’s leadership

With captain Nick Foligno out roughly four weeks with an injury, Bedard will also get an opportunity to step up as a leader in a more official role.

He donned an “A” on his jersey Tuesday, joining long-tenured Connor Murphy as the two serving alternate captains.

“One of the things we talked about at the beginning of the year is making sure we earn things,” Blashill said. “We’re not entitled to success; we’re not entitled to wear a letter. … In his case, he’s absolutely earned it. And when I told different people around the team today, everybody said the same thing.”

And when Murphy’s head was crunched into the boards by a questionable hit in the third period, it was Bedard who performed the usual captain’s duties by negotiating with the referees, arguing Flames forward Adam Klapka had time to pull up.

“The refs were way nicer to me today — way nicer,” Bedard said, smiling wide. “I didn’t get kicked out of a draw for the first time in my career.”

Injured forward Jason Dickinson, one of the usual alternate captains, said Monday he has faith in the faces of the team’s next generation — Bedard, Frank Nazar and Alex Vlasic — to carry the load.

“They’re being leaders in their game,” Dickinson said. “[From] Frank, in particular, I’ve seen a big step. And Connor. They’ve definitely taken it upon their shoulders to say, ‘I’m going to win games for us, night after night.’ That sort of leadership has been nice to see.”

Brossoit’s appearance

A ghost appeared Monday at Fifth Third Arena: injured goalie Laurent Brossoit.

Brossoit, 32, previously seemed destined to complete his two-year Hawks contract without ever playing a game. Now it sounds like he’s finally on track to eventually play hockey again, although that process will take time.

“He says he feels good, to be honest,” Blashill said. “He’s excited to be back and have the opportunity to be around more shooters and start to get from a really controlled environment into a less controlled environment.”

For now, Brossoit is working individually with goalie coach Jimmy Waite and a few forwards at a time, but he plans to eventually rejoin team practices. After that, he would probably need a minor-league conditioning stint before playing in any NHL games.

If that process goes smoothly — and it hasn’t in the past — the Hawks would then need to decide what to do with Brossoit, since Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom have formed a strong tandem this season.

A trade might be most likely, if there’s any interest. He did post an excellent .927 save percentage across 33 games in 2022-23 and 2023-24 with the Golden Knights and Jets, respectively.

Dickinson’s frustration

Dickinson has been sidelined by three different ailments in 2025 — including a wrist injury that required offseason surgery and an apparent (albeit unconfirmed) shoulder injury right now. It’s understandably frustrating to him.

“It’s easy, if it’s the same thing, to be like, ‘Oh, we’ve just got to get that right,'” Dickinson said. “But it’s one thing after the other. Can’t seem to figure that out.”

He has been in and out of the lineup this season, missing 11 of 19 games so far. He regretted trying to push through the injury in his last appearance Oct. 30 in Winnipeg; doing so led to a re-aggravation.

Now, he has learned to be more cautious. That’s why he hasn’t yet returned to action despite practicing for days now.

“I feel really good, but last week I wasn’t confident to not go out there and re-injure it again,” he said. “I don’t want to [keep being in and out]. It’s hard on me; it’s hard on the group. It’s not fair to anybody to do that. I’ve got to make sure I’m at a point where, when I come back, I’m going to be back for good.”