Blackhawks lose to Panthers 4-3, but Connor Bedard stays red hot

We are such an impatient society. Everything must be now, now, now.

That goes for many areas of life, but it's also true in sports.

If a hyped athlete gets off to a slow start, it doesn't take long for the haters to start slinging mud.

BUST! OVERRATED! PATHETIC!

While noise didn't quite reach Defcon 1 when the Blackhawks' Connor Bedard managed a mere 2 goals and 2 assists in his first seven games, some shots were certainly fired.

Well, it's awfully quiet now - and for good reason as Bedard piled up 4 points in a 5-3 victory at Tampa Bay on Thursday and followed that up with a sensational 2-goal performance in a 4-3 loss at Florida on Sunday.

Bedard has 7 goals in his last six games and 9 in all. Only seven players had more going into Sunday night's games.

"You can see the game is starting to slow down for him, which is scary," forward Nick Foligno told reporters.

Bedard's first goal Sunday was a thing of beauty and tied the game 2-2 late in the first period.

As the 6-foot-4, 211-pound Kevin Stenlund looked to pass deep in his defensive zone, Bedard raced in and stole the puck by lifting Stenlund's stick. Bedard looked down, saw the puck at his feet and fired a shot up and over the left shoulder of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

It takes otherworldly skill to make all of those things happen in less than a second.

"He just looks quick at the net and sees he's got a chance to put it over his shoulder," Foligno said. "And boom. It's in the net. That's just his hockey IQ. ... It's what makes him special."

Florida took a 3-2 lead at 7:00 of the second period on Sam Reinhart's 11th goal, but Bedard knotted things up again just 78 seconds later. Blazing into the offensive zone with speed, Bedard stickhandled, then shot to the far side while Florida's Oliver Ekman-Larsson was attempting to poke-check the puck out of the way.

It was a remarkable goal, with Ekman-Larsson's right hand inches away from Bedard's stick when the shot was fired.

"He was our only guy really looking to attack and shoot, especially in the second period," said coach Luke Richardson. "We had some chances and hung onto the puck to look for another play instead of just shooting it with some speed."

Carter Verhaeghe notched the game-winner at 2:44 of the third period on the power play. Jason Dickinson, who scored the Hawks' first goal, was in the penalty box for interference.

The Hawks nearly tied it in the final seconds, but Tyler Johnson couldn't quite reach a bouncing puck that squirted to the left of a wide-open net.

Asked where he's improved most since the season opener, Bedard said "battles for sure."

"Obviously you've got to respect everyone in the league," he continued. "(Those are) guys you grow up watching, but now that's guys I'm competing against. So I don't want to go in there and not battle my hardest.

"Today there's so many plays that I'm going over in my head right now that could have been better. Now it's just try to improve there."

The Hawks (5-8-0) were outplayed for large stretches by Florida (9-4-1), and Foligno almost couldn't believe the game was tied entering the third period.

But that's what happens when you have a superstar: Anything's possible. Even on off nights.

"We call 'em gamebreakers," Foligno said. "They either win you the game or they keep you in a game. ... He's able to do that because of his abilities. You appreciate that.

"You don't want him to bail you out every night, but those are the guys that can sometimes get you a win that maybe you don't deserve."