Bedard breaks tie with 54 seconds left, lifts Blackhawks past Islanders

CHICAGO -- Connor Bedard broke a tie with 54 seconds left in the third period to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 5-3 win against the New York Islanders at United Center on Sunday.

Bedard found the puck in the slot after Ryan Donato’s wraparound attempt was kicked away by Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin and scored with a one-timer that squeezed between Sorokin's pads before rolling over the goal line to give the Blackhawks a 4-3 lead.

“I just kind of try to get lost, and nice puck out,” said Bedard, who has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past five games. “It just came right to me, shot it right at his chest and somehow it kind of found its way in. So, it’s nice to get a bounce like that.”

Connor Murphy added an empty-net goal at 19:49 for the 5-3 final.

Teuvo Teravainen had a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks (10-19-2), who had lost two in a row. Arvid Soderblom made 30 saves.

“Yeah, it was nice today for sure,” Chicago coach Anders Sorensen said. “We did bend a little bit, and we were teetering a little bit, but give the guys a lot of credit. The composure on the bench was really good. A lot of young players kept their composure and kept making plays when the game was on the line. I thought that was a big part of why we won that game.”

Ryan Pulock, Simon Holmstrom and Noah Dobson scored for the Islanders (12-13-7), who had won three of four, including 5-4 against the Blackhawks on Thursday. Sorokin made 18 saves.

“I thought we probably deserved a little better,” said Islanders forward Mathew Barzal, who returned after missing the past 21 games with an upper-body injury sustained Oct. 30. “I thought we played all right. A few breakdowns defensively cost us.”

Ilya Mikheyev gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 9:08 of the first period. Teravainen picked up the puck behind the net and passed to Mikheyev, who scored on a snap shot from the bottom of the left circle to Sorokin’s stick side.

Pulock tied the game 1-1 at 18:43 with a slap shot from the right point.

Taylor Hall responded to put Chicago ahead 2-1 at 19:40 with a one-timer below the right circle off a pass from Teravainen.

Holmstrom tied it 2-2 at 2:25 of the second when he put in a cross-crease pass from Pierre Engvall at the left post off a 2-on-1 rush.

Teravainen scored on a 5-on-3 power play to put Chicago back ahead 2-1 at 15:19. Bedard controlled the puck in the offensive zone and found Teravainen for a one-timer from the top of the right circle.

“Yeah, we’ve been having a tough time with closing the games and winning the tied ones, so the third periods have to be better, and I think we did a pretty good job today,” Teravainen said. “Just (a) big goal at the end but I think we earned it.

“It’s good whenever you can help the team win the game. Just felt like the puck was bouncing pretty good for me and my line today. Good effort by our line, I think.”

Dobson tied it 3-3 just 47 seconds into the third period. He took a pass at the right point, skated through the right circle, and faked before slipping a low shot between Soderblom’s pads.

“I had lots of time walking in,” Dobson said. “Just try to have a little patience and find an opening and was able to slide it in the five-hole.”

The Blackhawks challenged the call for goaltender inference, but the goal stood.

“We played really well defensively in the second and the third period,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “In the first, they had too many chances, the way I saw it. But in the second and third, we didn’t give them much. It’s unfortunate we came up short.”

NOTES: Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech (jaw) returned from injured reserve. He missed 20 games after being hit in the mouth with a puck at Buffalo on Nov. 1. He had one shot in 19:47 of ice time. … Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield played his 500th NHL game. … Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno missed the game because of illness.