Kane's Record, Bedard's Return, Levshunov's Winner: Blackhawks Edge Jets 4-3 in OT
Patrick Kane passed Phil Housley for the most assists by an American-born player while Connor Bedard scored his first of the season and set up the overtime winner at the United Center.
Chicago's past, present and future all touched the puck Thursday night. Patrick Kane moved past Phil Housley for the most assists by an American-born player in NHL history, Connor Bedard scored his first goal of the season, and 20-year-old defenseman Artyom Levshunov buried the overtime winner as the Blackhawks beat the Jets 4-3 at the United Center, per NHL.com.
A record and a return on the same play
Bedard, back after missing the season's first six games recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, opened the scoring on a power play at 8:11 of the first — with Kane assisting. Kane finished the night with two assists and 895 for his career, past Housley's mark for U.S.-born players.
Chicago kept rolling: Frank Nazar, fresh off a two-game suspension, scored on a breakaway at 15:10, and after Neal Pionk answered for Winnipeg, Ryan Donato restored the two-goal cushion just 14 seconds later. Four goals in a frantic opening frame: 3-1 Blackhawks after one.
Winnipeg claws back
Kyle Connor converted a power play at 4:44 of the second off a Mark Scheifele feed — his eighth goal of the season, tying Kirill Kaprizov for the league lead, per Chicago Hockey Now. Alex Iafallo then tied it at 5:39 of the third, redirecting Pionk's point shot. Pionk finished with a goal and two assists, and nearly won it early in overtime before Spencer Knight (31 saves) shut the door.
At 1:37 of OT, Bedard slipped Levshunov a behind-the-back feed and the young defenseman snapped home his first career game-winner. "Good pass by 'Bedsy' and a good goal by me," Levshunov said.
What it means
Chicago improved to 3-5-0 with its second straight win since Bedard's return; coach Jeff Blashill called it a step toward fixing the team's poor record in games decided after regulation. Winnipeg fell to 4-1-2 and hosts Carolina on Saturday, with Vladislav Namestnikov set to be examined after falling into the boards at the morning skate.