Even without late scratches, injured Taylor Hall and healthy Corey Perry, Chicago was embarrassed as Blue Jackets ended nine-game losing streak.
Connor Bedard scored his 10th goal in his 17th game to join some elite company, but the depleted Chicago Blackhawks were routed by the desperate Columbus Blue Jackets 7-3 on Wednesday night.
Skating without forwards Taylor Hall and Corey Perry, the Blackhawks were ambushed early and never recovered in their fifth straight loss. Boone Jenner had two goals to help give the Blue Jackets a 3-0 lead in the first period and they didn't look back.
"Not a fun one, that's for sure," Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. "For whatever reason, I think we just didn't move our feet well early in the game and they were motivated to do that." See the video.
Defenseman Zach Werenski had a career-high four assists and Adam Boqvist, the former Blackhawks blueliner, added three as Columbus poured it on to end a nine-game (0-7-2) slide. The Blackhawks dropped to 5-12-1 after being outskated most of the night.
Chicago's Jason Dickinson and Ryan Donato scored in the third period with the game out of reach.
Hall has missed seven of 17 games this season with a shoulder, then a lower-body injury.
The 38-year-old Perry was a last-minute healthy scratch. Richardson said it was "an organizational decision." See the video.
Bedard Goal Only Bright Spot
Bedard's goal with 4:19 left in the first period cut the Blue Jackets' early lead to 3-1 and gave Chicago a few minutes of life. According to the NHL, the only 18-year-olds to score 10 quicker than Bedard are Patrick Laine (14 games) and Steve Yzerman (15 games).
Laine achieved the feat with Winnipeg in his rookie season, 2016-17. The Finnish forward, with Columbus since 2020, got the Blue Jackets' seventh goal in this one after being benched in the previous game.
Bedard, the NHL's first overall draft pick in 2023, met Adam Fantilli, the third selection, for the first time in a pro game. Fantilli had been ranked as the No. 2 prospect heading into the draft, but was taken by Columbus after Anaheim made Leo Carlsson the second pick in June.
Bedard and Fantilli were teammates on Canada's gold medal-winning 2023 World Junior Championship team. The 19-year-old Fantilli had an assist on Wednesday.
Blackhawks Blitzed
The Blue Jackets dominated early and jumped out to a 3-0 lead behind Jenner.
The Columbus captain stuffed in the puck from the side of the net to open the scoring 2:57 in. Erik Gudbranson's screened shot form the wing made it 2-0 just under 4 minutes later. Jenner upped it to 3-0 during a power-play at 13:55 with a point-blank backhander that clanked off the post, hit Petr Mrazek on the back and bounced in to the net.
Bedard fired his his 10th goal from the left circle. He faked for a second, glanced to Isaak Phillips across the slot, then popped in a screened shot over the glove of Elvis Merzlikins.
Columbus put it away with four straight goals in the second. Coach Luke Richardson replaced Mrazek with Arvid Söderblom after Dmitri Voronkov made it 5-1.
"The second period, there's really no excuse for that," Richardson said. "I think we collapsed and we started chasing around, and on the wrong side of the puck.
"Pretty much everything that we're not supposed to do, we kind of fell into the trap of doing."
Dickinson and Donato scored in the third to complete the scoring.
Seven-Eleven
With Hall and Perry out, the Blackhawks dressed spare defenseman Nikita Zaitsev. That gave Chicago a lineup with 11 forwards and seven D-Men.