Ducks Shut Out Connor Bedard, Blackhawks 4-0; Anaheim Rookie Leo Carlsson Hurt Again

Alex Killorn scored twice in Anaheim's three-goal second period and the Ducks cruised past the disjointed Chicago Blackhawks on 4-0 Thursday night.

Lukas Dostal made 29 saves for his first NHL shutout. The unfocused Blackhawks were blanked for the 11th time this season as they were unable to sustain offensive pressure against the 23-year-old Ducks goalie.

Frank Vatrano scored his 30th goal of the season and Brett Leason notched his third in three games against Chicago to help the Ducks end a seven-game losing streak. The Blackhawks fell to 0-2 on their California trip.

"The second period for whatever reason I thought we were just flat," Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. "We didn't have anything early in the period and they had the puck again most of the time. 

"Again, we let the opponent be harder than us and it kind of came back on us. They were the harder team tonight and they deserved a good win."  See following video.

The second-ever matchup between Connor Bedard, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, and No. 2 selection Leo Carlsson factored on Killorn's first goal. It opened the scoring at 3:10 of the second.

Carlsson won a faceoff from Bedard in the left circle of the Chicago zone and drew the puck back to Urho Vaakanainen at the right point. He passed across to Gustav Lindstrom at the left point, who fired a shot that Killorn tipped in midair.

Killorn got his stick on the puck at the edge of the crease despite being tied up by Chicago D-man Jarred Tinordi.

Blackhawks goalie Arvid Söderblom finished with 21 saves.

Carlsson left the game favoring his right leg with 4:14 left in the second period after being accidentally clipped knee-on-knee by Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic in the Chicago slot. The two were circling through the slot in search of a loose rebound after Dostal made a close-in save on Bedard.

The 6-foot-3 Carlsson had missed 10 games in December and January with a ligament sprain in his right knee. 

The 19-year-old Swede has nine goals and 15 assists in 42 games in an injury-plagued rookie season. Carlsson also sat out eight games with a concussion earlier this month and missed two in October with a lower-body injury.

While the Blackhawks have used Bedard as a first-line, offense-generating center from the get-go, the Ducks had planned to phase in Carlsson more gradually.

After a scoreless first, the Ducks took charge in the second. A day after practicing battle drills to establish position near the net and in "hard" middle-of-the-ice territory, the Blackhawks didn't apply the lessons offensively or defensively.

Once Killorn's 13th goal gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead, Leason made it 2-0 at 9:34 of the second on a screened shot from the right circle that sailed past Söderblom on the stick side.

Killorn upped it to 3-0 with 1:34 left in the period nine seconds after the Blackhawks killed Bedard's hooking penalty. Bedard darted to cover Killorn in the right circle and ended up screening his low wrist shot.

"As the game went on I thought we got a lot more confident" Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. "Then when we got that first goal, you could feel a lot of weight lift off the bench. 

"The third period, we played a smart game with a 3-0 lead. I don't think we gave them too much. There was a missed assignment at the net front, but I thought we did a good job keeping them to the outside."

Vatrano reached the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career with a 5-on-3 power-play goal on a wrister from the right side at 10:31 of the third.