Crosby scores twice to reach 30 goals again as Pittsburgh hands Chicago eighth straight loss.
It took Connor Bedard a little while to get his bearings in his first game back after missing 14-plus contests with a broken jaw.
By the end of the second period against Pittsburgh on Thursday, the Chicago Blackhawks 18-year-old center — and the NHL's leading rookie scorer — started to look like his old self.
But Bedard's dash of excitement didn't make a difference for last-place Chicago. Sidney Crosby scored twice to reach 30 goals for the 12th time in his career and Reilly Smith connected to lead the Penguins to a 4-1 win.
Bryan Rust added an empty-netter with 50 seconds left.
The Blackhawks, dead last in the NHL, lost their eighth straight (0-7-1).
Bedard Got Rolling
After a rocky start, Bedard eventually was wheeling and dealing from behind his full polycarbonate face shield.
He set up one linemate, Philipp Kurashev for a goal. Bedard spun and dished the puck to the other, Nick Foligno, for a point-blank attempt that Alex Nedeljkovic stopped.
Bedard had some prime chances himself as he returned about a week ahead of schedule. He finished with four shots on goal and fired two others that were blocked.
"In the first, a couple of plays that can't happen and resulted in goals," Bedard said. "But I thought our line in general kind of took a step in the second and third and created a good amount." See Bedard discuss his return the video.
Early Rust and Minus-2
Bedard was clearly rusty in the first period, going minus-2 quickly as the Blackhawks fell behind 2-0.
"Obviously a tough start with, you know for a couple, but I don't know, I was pretty excited to get going," Bedard said. "Energy-wise, felt good. It's good to be back for sure."
By the second period, the rookie was back in form. Bedard assisted on Kurashev's tap-in goal at 8:22 of the middle frame with a nice pass to complete a 2-on-1 at the net.
Without Bedard...
The Blackhawks lost 4-2 at New Jersey on Jan. 5 when Devils defenseman Brendan Smith fractured Bedard's jaw late in the first period with an open ice hit.
"It was weird for sure" Bedard said of the injury. "But overall it wasn't that bad.
"It wasn't a hard, obviously, hit," Bedard added. "It was clean. He just kind of got me in a spot where it happened to break my jaw."
Counting that contest, the Blackhawks were 3-11-1 without the NHL's top draft pick of 2023.
Bedard "Felt Normal"
Bedard resumed skating only a week after surgery to set his jaw on Jan. 8. He had been increasing his tempo and said he "felt normal" with 21:17 of ice time on Thursday, the most of any Chicago forward.
Coach Luke Richardson leaned on Bedard, Kurashev and Foligno heavily in the third period as Chicago pressed for a second goal.
"I've been skating for whatever, four weeks now, and felt confident coming in because of that, I think," Bedard said. "I was fortunate to be able to skate and work out the whole time."
He said he was excited and "running around like a kid" before Thursday's game. See video.
Crosby Dominates Rematch
As in the the Blackhawks' season opener in Pittsburgh on Oct. 10, Bedard lost the opening faceoff to Crosby.
Just 15 seconds later the puck was in the net as Crosby deflected Marcus Pettersson's bouncing shot from the point past befuddled Blackhawks back-up goalie Arvid Söderblom.
Söderblom stopped 22 shots in his first start since Jan. 24 at Seattle.
Smith upped it to 2-0 at 12:40 after Bedard turned the puck over just inside the Pittsburgh blue line.
Drew O'Connor picked off Bedard's cross-ice pass and sped down left wing. O'Connor fed Smith, who drove down the slot and beat Söderblom on the short side with a backhander.
Bedard set up Kurashev to cut it to 2-1, just moments after Crosby powered into the Chicago zone and hit the left post with a shot.
Crosby scored his second goal of the game at 5:51 of the third, rapping in a rebound from the right side of the net to up make it 3-1. Rust's empty-netter sealed it.
Crosby said Bedard "looked pretty" good coming of an injury that caused him to miss nearly six weeks.
"He a special player," Crosby said. "There are times where it doesn't look like he's got a lot of room and he's making something of nothing."