Linemate Nick Foligno said Bedard, the NHL's leading rookie scorer, showed he's as "special as any player in the league." But it was too late after Chicago played "unacceptable" hockey for nearly two periods and spotted the swift Hurricanes a four-goal lead.
When Connor Bedard gets riled, the NHL's leading rookie scorer can really make things happen on the ice.
But Bedard and the rest of the Chicago Blackhawks thought too much, played passively and let the speedy Carolina Hurricanes blow by them for nearly two periods in a 6-3 loss at Raleigh, North Carolina on Monday night.
Bedard had a goal and two primary assists to give him two goals and four assists in three games since returning from a broken jaw. But it all came too late against the Hurricanes and Chicago's team-record road losing streak reached 21 games.
Bedard's linemate Nick Foligno scored his 13th goal and an assist to extend his point streak to six games, the veteran's longest since 2016-17 when he was the Columbus Blue Jackets captain. Tyler Johnson also had a goal and an assist.
Bedard has 17 goals and 39 points in 42 games to lead all rookies.
Bedard, Blackhawks Fight Back Late After Canes' Blitz
After not recording a shot on goal through the first two periods, the 18-year-old Bedard helped fire up his team.
The Hurricanes are the kind of uptempo, high-compete squad Chicago general manager Kyle Davidson wants the Blackhawks to become.
But rather than try to skate with the Hurricanes and learn on the fly, the Blackhawks started by standing around and watching.
Bedard included, Foligno said.
"Then you started to see his instincts and his competitiveness," Foligno said. "I think he was pissed that he wasn't handling it (the puck) as much and he started to turn it on.
"He started to want to make a difference and when he does that, he's as special as anybody in this league." See the following video.
Carolina Dominates First Two Period
Carolina outshot Chicago 42-17. The stat largely tells the story of this one.
The Hurricanes started strong, then took charge with three goals in the second period. Michael Bunting, Martin Necas, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Sebastian Aho scored on coverage breakdowns to build a 4-0 lead.
"We really had trouble handing their speed," Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. "They really do come at you.
"We didn't have the puck hardly at all in the first half of the game."
Foligno said the Blackhawks' play in the first two periods was "just unacceptable" and attributed the sluggish start to "overthinking" while the fast Hurricanes just "come at you." See the following video.
Bedard, Blackhawks Wake Up
Carolina had already had peppered Petr Mrazek with 28 shots when Foligno scored on a spinning backhander with 4:37 left in the second to get Chicago on the board. Bedard set up his 36-year-old linemate in the slot with a pass off the left boards.
Brent Burns made it 5-1 with a sharp-angle power play goal 2:34 into the third.
For second straight game, Bedard had a goal disallowed by an offside. He beat Spencer Martin at 4:28 as he lunged into a shot in the right circle, but a video review showed rookie defenseman Louis Crevier didn't hold the puck in at the blue line moments earlier.
Bedard scored a power-play goal that counted at the 7-minute mark. He snuck to the net on the backdoor and tapped in Philipp Kurashev's perfect feed.
Bedard fed Johnson at the doorstep for a deflection and another power-play score just over 2 minutes later to cut it to 5-3.
Jordan Martinook fired in an empty-netter with 1:49 remaining to seal it.
Blackhawks forward Anthony Beauvillier returned after being sidelined since Jan. 2 with a broken left wrist. The New York Islanders first-round draft pick in 2015 didn't hit the scoresheet in 16:13 of playing time.