Blackhawks vs. Penguins: Teuvo Teravainen's Late Winner Crowns Connor Bedard's Return

The Chicago Blackhawks spent the first six games of their season waiting for the main character to come back. When Connor Bedard finally walked into the episode on Tuesday night, he needed less than a period to change the plot.

Bedard made his season debut after offseason shoulder surgery and set up a first-period power-play goal, Teuvo Teravainen scored the go-ahead goal with 4:18 left, and the Blackhawks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 at United Center. Teravainen and rookie Roman Kantserov each scored twice, spoiling a two-goal night from Sidney Crosby.

Early Haymakers

Chicago did not wait long. Pittsburgh turned the puck over behind its own net 28 seconds in, Anton Frondell collected it along the goal line, and Teravainen buried the quick feed from the low slot for his first goal of the season.

The Penguins answered with the most reliable weapon they have. At 6:57, Crosby took a pass from Erik Karlsson in the neutral zone, carried it over the blue line and beat Spencer Knight with a wrist shot from the right circle to make it 1-1.

Then came the moment the United Center crowd had been waiting for since summer. Kris Letang went off for interference at 16:51, and on the ensuing power play Bedard took the puck in the left circle and redirected it into the middle with a soft touch pass. Kantserov was waiting, and his one-timer beat Sergei Murashov at 17:50 for a 2-1 lead. It was only Chicago's second power-play goal of the season.

Kantserov Keeps Cooking

Kantserov, a 22-year-old rookie, scored his first NHL goal in Saturday's 5-2 loss to Carolina. Three days later he looked like he had been doing this for years. At 10:32 of the second, Artyom Levshunov carried the puck down the right side and slid it across, and Kantserov tapped it home while fighting off Ben Kindel to make it 3-1.

"Before (in) games not scoring, just unlucky," Kantserov said. "It was great. Unbelievable."

That goal also carried some history. Patrick Kane, skating on the top line with Bedard and Kantserov, picked up the secondary assist for the 894th of his career, tying Phil Housley for the most by a U.S.-born player in NHL history.

Pittsburgh refused to fade. Nick Robertson cut it to 3-2 at 17:51 of the second, jamming home a loose puck after Knight could not control a Blake Lizotte shot. It was Robertson's fourth goal of the season.

The Turning Point: Teravainen From Nowhere

Crosby pulled the Penguins level at 9:17 of the third, cleaning up the rebound of a Connor Dewar shot. That was career goal No. 656, which tied him with Brendan Shanahan for 14th on the NHL's all-time list. "Yeah, it's nice to see it go in," Crosby said. "Definitely better to win."

He did not get the second part. With the game tied and drifting toward overtime, Teravainen tried a shot from the half wall at a sharp angle at 15:42, and it found its way in off Murashov. It was not a goal you would put on a poster, but it counted the same. Tyler Bertuzzi sealed it with an empty-netter at 19:50, with Frondell and Teravainen picking up the assists.

The bigger story for Pittsburgh was what happened earlier with the man advantage. The Penguins went 0 for 4 on the power play, including a third-period chance after Bowen Byram's slashing minor at 6:09 while they trailed by one. Chicago went 1 for 2, and that single conversion with Bedard's fingerprints on it was the difference in a game decided by one goal before the empty-netter.

Penguins coach Dan Muse thought his team let Chicago dictate the pace. "I think that we played a little bit into the type of game that I think they want to play in terms of making it a track meet," he said.

Star Watch

Teuvo Teravainen: Two goals and an assist, including the winner, in 16:44. He was on the ice for the first goal and the last.

Roman Kantserov: Two goals in 18:52, giving him three on the season, all of them in his past two games.

Connor Bedard: One assist in 21:06 on a line that, in his words, "created a decent amount of looks." "Felt good," Bedard said. "Nice to be back, and the energy and stuff felt pretty good." Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill was impressed with the comeback. "I'm sure he'd say he had moments of good and probably a little rusty a couple of times," Blashill said. "But overall to miss what he's missed and to be able to come out and play that well is pretty impressive."

Anton Frondell: Two assists, plus 14 faceoff wins in 23 tries.

Sidney Crosby: Two goals, his first of the season, in 19:20, plus a dead-even 12-12 on the dot.

Spencer Knight: 24 saves on 27 shots. Murashov stopped 15 of 19 at the other end.

Stats That Matter

• 0 for 4: Pittsburgh's power play, the clearest gap in a tight game.
• 894: Kane's career assists, matching Housley among U.S.-born players.
• 656: Crosby's career goals, now level with Shanahan for 14th all time.
• 27-20: Pittsburgh's edge in shots. Volume did not equal victory.
• 24: Chicago's giveaways, compared with 16 for Pittsburgh. The Hawks survived their own sloppiness.

What It Means

Chicago improves to 2-5-0 and snaps a two-game losing streak, evening its seven-game homestand at 1-1. The Blackhawks also got this one without Frank Nazar, who completed a two-game suspension. Winnipeg visits Thursday. "There are still areas we can clean up, but overall, we played pretty well and getting the win is obviously what matters," Bedard said.

Pittsburgh drops to 3-3-1 in the opener of a four-game road trip, which continues Friday in Colorado. Crosby did not sugarcoat it. "It wasn't our best, but I think we did enough to be in the game," he said. "If you leave it up to chance, that's what happened tonight."

Closing Take

Every franchise has a moment where the vibe shifts, and for Chicago it might be this one. Bedard returned before November, which NHL.com reported was the original expectation for his recovery, Kantserov is suddenly scoring in bunches, and Kane is passing legends on the assist list. One win in October does not fix a 1-5-0 start, but Tuesday finally felt like a show worth binging rather than one you keep on in the background. The show has its lead back, and the ratings bump was immediate.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.