RECAP: Bedard Return Spoiled by Crosby, Penguins

CHICAGO, Ill. -- Connor Bedard made a surprise return to the Blackhawks lineup on Thursday night, but the celebration was spoiled by his childhood idol as a pair of Sidney Crosby goals propelled the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-1 victory at the United Center.

Crosby needed just 15 seconds to put the visitors ahead and later provided the insurance tally early in the third to regain a two-goal lead Pittsburgh would not relinquish. Bedard did find the scoresheet himself in his first game back, setting up Chicago's lone goal with a primary helper on Philipp Kurashev's second-period tally to pull within a goal at the time.

Arvid Soderblom made his first start in goal since Jan. 24 and made 22 stops in the defeat.

QUICK HITS

• Philipp Kurashev pushed his point streak to four straight games with his ninth goal of the season. He has a goal and 4 assists over that span, registering points on four of Chicago's seven goals.
• Nick Foligno also extended his point streak to four games with an assist on the Kurashev tally, and now has 2 goals and 2 assists over the eight days.
• Aside from his assist, Connor Bedard led all forwards on either team with 21:17 of ice time in his first game since Jan. 5 in New Jersey. Origingally diagnossed with a 6-8 week recovery timeline after surgery to repair his fractured jaw a few days later, the rookie returned on Thursday just shy of six weeks from the date of his injury. He was rusty at the faceoff dot in his first game back, going 0-for-7 on draws on the night.

THEY SAID IT

• "Overall, it's a positive thing because, you know, I've been skating for four weeks now and felt confident coming in, you know, because of that, I think. But also you kind of feel normal, and it's like you're on the sidelines, so that sucks. But, I was fortunate to be able to skate and workout kind of the whole time time." - Connor Bedard on being able to step into the lineup after several weeks of being able to skate without contact while recovering. 
• "Really bad first period but I think then we bounced back, we created a lot of chances. Yeah, I think after that first, we started playing well. So we gotta clean that up and we should be good." - Philipp Kurashev on team growing as the game went along. 
• "I thought I skated well. And I thought he had some pep in his stride and he looked at raring to go... as the game went on, (the top line) looked really good, and he looked confident on the power play, looked confident out there just like he always is and made some really good plays." Richardson on Bedard's return.

GAME LINKS

• Game Summary
• Full Box Score
• Highlights

WHAT'S NEXT

The Blackhawks wrap host the Ottawa Senators for a matinee affair on Saturday afternoon at the United Center.

POSTGAME VIDEO