10 takeaways from Connor Bedard’s NHL debut in the Chicago Blackhawks’ 4-2 win: ‘It’s a moment you think of your whole life’

Connor Bedard didn’t have a four-goal game like Auston Matthews or score an overtime winner like Kirill Kaprizov, but his NHL debut was a memorable night nonetheless.

The Chicago Blackhawks rookie got to check several boxes from his lifelong dream:

• He faced off against his childhood idol, Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby.

• He recorded his first point, a secondary assist on Ryan Donato’s second-period goal.

• And though he didn’t pot a goal himself, he played the game the way he thought he could and contributed to the Blackhawks’ 4-2 upset at PPG Paints Arena.

“It’s a moment you think of your whole life, and now it’s passed, just like that,” Bedard said. “That part of it’s sad, but just to have it done, get on with the season and everything for our group is good, and of course to get the win was awesome.”

Bedard joined a short list of teenagers to play their first game in a Hawks sweater that also includes Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull, Eddie Olczyk, Bruce Cassidy, Jeremy Roenick, Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad. Olczyk, Steve McCarthy and Dean McAmmond were the only ones before Bedard to record a point in their debut at 18 or younger.

Despite his age, Bedard played like he had a few seasons under his belt. He wasn’t rattled.

“There’s going to be tough games,” he said. “The best players in the world, the best league in the world, and for me it’s just trying to get better every shift, get better every game.

“But I thought I created a bit, and there’s obviously things I can get better in but I felt pretty good.”

Forward Jason Dickinson was impressed.

“I thought he looked great. He fit right in,” he said of Bedard. “He didn’t look like a young kid trying to find the game. He was controlling the puck really well, he was making plays.”

It’s not like the Penguins let Bedard run free, either. They threw bodies at him. But Bedard kept coming.

He took 11 shot attempts: two were blocked, four missed and five were on goal. He logged a game-high 5 minutes, 13 seconds (of his 21 1/2 total minutes of ice time) on the power play.

“He’s all-in on the team, but he has obviously shown he’s not afraid to use his talents when the other team’s vulnerable,” coach Luke Richardson said. “I thought there was maybe only once or twice in the whole game where he tried to maybe do everything by himself.”

Here are 10 takeaways from the season opener.

1. Bedard made a ‘slick move’ on his first point.

Erik Karlsson charged at him to knock the puck away, but Bedard made a no-look, backhand pass to spring Alex Vlasic.

Vlasic dropped down for a shot and Donato flushed the rebound. Richardson called it a “slick move.”

“He was so dangerous the whole shift, and people gravitate to him defensively and let Vlasic walk down freely, get a good shot,” Richardson said. ”And Donato just worked his butt off as he always does in the crease and got the goal. It starts with Connor really moving and being creative and it got us going there.”

2. The comeback came from unlikely sources.

The Hawks were down 2-0 when Donato’s goal put them on the board.

Camp darling Cole Guttman tied the game in the third period, and 5 1/2 minutes later, Dickinson put the Hawks up 3-2.

It marked the second time in team history the Hawks overcame a multi-goal deficit to win a season opener, according to NHL Stats. On Oct. 5, 2006, the Hawks came back from a 2-0 hole to beat the Nashville Predators 8-6.

Corey Perry assisted on both the tying and go-ahead goals Tuesday.

“I stopped up, thinking Perrs could hit me, just maybe create a lane for him to even walk in, and a fortunate bounce for it to come right to me,” Dickinson explained. “And I just thought, get this off my stick quick because (goalie Tristan) Jarry is going to be sliding across.

“I didn’t know it went in at first. First thing I saw was Perrs coming in and charging at me.”

3. Bedard shared the ice with a trio of Penguins greats.

Crosby, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin are playing their 18th season together — as many years as Bedard has been alive.

Bedard’s night started with an opening faceoff against Crosby, which Crosby won.

“I just wanted to win it. Obviously didn’t,” Bedard said. “But just going into it, it was really cool, really special trying to take it in. But in the end, you’re focused on the hockey game.

“There’s nerves, of course. It’s a pretty big moment in your life, but, yeah, just trying to settle in and focus on that.”

Crosby beat him again during the second-period puck drop. In fact, Bedard lost his first eight draws.

But the third period was the charm: Bedard finally won his opening draw against Crosby.

“It was great,” he said. “But in the end, when you’re playing, you’re not trying to think about it too much. You’re trying to stop them, which is not easy.”

4. It was a big debut for Kevin Korchinski too.

The young defenseman and Bedard took their rookie laps together before the game.

“We knew each other from World Juniors and we’re pretty tight,” said Bedard, who added it was nice “having another guy going through it with you that you can talk to, that you learn from.”

Korchinski’s parents and sister were at the game.

“It’s pretty surreal,” he said after morning skate. “First game against a lot of Hall of Famers on that team.”

5. Hits? What hits?

Midway through the second period, Bedard hopped on a pass from Letang near the Penguins offensive blue line and was off to the races.

By the time Bedard made it to the opposite side, Letang crushed him into the half-wall.

Letang and Noel Acciari knocked Bedard off his skates a few other times, seemingly sending the rookie a message: “Welcome to the league.”

But tell that to Bedard, who claimed not to remember.

“Was he knocking me around?” he replied when asked about Letang. “No, honestly, I got hit a couple of times, but that’s hockey and that’s going to happen.”

“He’s fine,” Richardson said. “He bounced up all night and he knows. I’m sure that’s happened to him his whole life and it’s going to keep happening to him here until they realize, you have to be careful.”

Richardson likened Bedard to Crosby and Malkin.

“Those are maybe a little bit bigger, stronger guys, but they can dance you as well,” he said. “I think it was the second period (Bedard) did that slick move from behind his back. You can catch a guy leaning the wrong way and look really silly.

“The more he gets comfortable and stronger and dangerous, he’ll get more room because people will try to play him a little safer.”

6. Bedard sticks it to Stick-gate.

It was cast as kind of a cute rookie mistake.

In a pregame video, Bedard walked out of the Hawks locker room for warmups but swiveled back to get his stick.

Several outlets cast it as an “oops” moment. Forgetting something?

“No, I didn’t forget my stick,” Bedard said. “I don’t know where that is coming from. Yeah, I was in the room, went back.”

Bedard, who’s famously superstitious and a stickler for routine, explained that he typically leaves his stick outside the room, but in this case it wasn’t there, so he turned around and got it.

“Just so no one touches it and the blade’s not touching the ground,” he said of his reasoning. “In (Regina), we had stalls. I just put it in my stall to flip it up, and I think at home we’d have one too.

“But obviously on the road, you’ve got to find a new spot.”

7. Petr the Great?

The last time Petr Mrázek played at PPG Paints Arena, he made 38 saves during a 5-2 win that knocked the Penguins out of the playoffs — and, at the time, cost the Hawks the league’s worst record and therefore the best odds of winning the draft lottery.

Well, the Hawks won the lottery anyway (and dibs on Bedard). Fast forward to Tuesday, Mrázek and Bedard played huge roles in stinging the Pens yet again.

“The guy stood on his head,” Dickinson said. “He took so many backdoor one-timers, so many breakaways that could have easily changed the tide for them.”

Mrázek made 34 saves and held steady against some great chances.

“I felt pretty good,” he said. “First game in a long time. I’m not going to lie, the day is long before the game starts. There’s always a lot of thinking before.”

8. On the next episode of ‘The Connors’ …

Richardson has talked about Bedard’s humility, but before Tuesday’s game he noted that attribute runs through the family.

He recalled a recent conversation with Melanie Bedard, Connor’s mom.

“They were moving into the same apartment building I was in, and his mom said, ‘Well, we don’t want to get too far ahead. He’s got to make the team.’ And I kind of looked at her. I said, ‘I think you can look ahead. He’ll be OK.’”

Translation: The No. 1 pick and proclaimed “future of hockey” was a shoo-in to make the opening roster.

“So he did move in,” Richardson said. “My wife’s run into him a few times in the elevator. Hopefully he feels more comfortable. He has one teammate in there and myself, so if he ever needs anything, it’s a family and we’re there for each other.”

9. He’s OK by P.K.

You know an NHL player has broken into the mainstream when he can get air time on a hot-take debate show like ESPN’s “First Take.”

Former New Jersey Devil P.K. Subban joined host Stephen A. Smith to tackle a few topics and led off with Bedard.

“His ability, his lower-body strength, emulates Crosby,” Subban said.

Subban said that’s the quality that separates Bedard from other young players with high-end skill.

“This kid has the strength to create his own shot in his own space,” he said.

10. Bedard-watching creates a chance encounter for Blackhawks fans.

Nicholas Philips of Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood and his cousin, Adam Reninger of Forest Park, were in town for the game and saw a familiar red jersey at a Pittsburgh bar.

They approached and found out Grant Gribble of Geneva was there for the game too.

But they made a funny discovery.

“(Gribble) turned around and I realized he was someone I had been playing fantasy football with,” Reninger said. “We had no idea either one of us was going to be here, so it’s kind of crazy.”

Too bad Gribble, who is attending four of the Hawks’ first five road games, didn’t run into the pair earlier.

Philips and Reninger said they sneaked into PPG Paints Arena and watched morning skate for both teams.

“We weren’t trying to trespass or anything,” Philips said. ”So we apologize if we weren’t supposed to be there. We kind of moved chairs and went behind the bench and just kind of kicked back and relaxed and watched some dynamic drills and saw the whole team on the ice getting ready for tonight.

“They looked pretty sharp.”