Surprise! Blackhawks Connor Bedard to Return Against Penguins and Sidney Crosby.

Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard will have a rematch against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night after all, returning from a broken jaw a week earlier than expected and with only one limited full-contact practice.

Coach Luke Richardson confirmed before the game that Bedard would skate on a line with Nick Foligno and Philipp Kurashev. Bedard, the NHL's top draft pick in 2023, suffered his injury on Jan. 5 on an open ice hit by Devils defenseman Brendan Smith in New Jersey.

The 18-year-old center had surgery a few days later and was expected to miss six to eight weeks. 

There was no need to rush Bedard back into a game Thursday when the NHL-worst Blackhawks host the scuffling Penguins.

Bedard wasn't expected to meet Crosby, one of his childhood hockey idols — at least not on the ice — again this season. But he was cleared by doctors ahead of schedule following two appointments on Wednesday.

As late as Tuesday, Richardson had projected Bedard would return next week after getting acclimated to impact through several practices.

But after Bedard had his jaw scanned and met doctors on Wednesday, the 18-year-old center conferred with the coaching staff and general manager Kyle Davidson. Bedard then went through some contact drills on Thursday morning with a handful of players and Richardson himself.

"We didn't really know much until late in the day," Richardson said. "Then we kind of had to put him through the next step on the ice this morning and get him a little bit of battle. 

"He said he was fine, as always, and he was ready to come back. But we wanted to make sure he had a little bit of battle and talk to him just about, you know, protecting himself out there as everyone should." See the following video.

Richardson said Bedard's speed, strength and conditioning were in excellent shape. The coach added his rookie phenom has been able to eat solid food for a couple of weeks and hasn't lost much, if any, weight.

Bedard will continue to wear a full polycarbonate face shield.

Chicago will try to snap a seven-game (0-6-1) losing streak and is coming off wretched 4-2 loss to league-leading Vancouver on Tuesday.

The injured-ravaged Blackhawks enter at the bottom of the NHL at 14-36-3 and 31 points. They've scored just 22 goals in their last 15 games and have been shut out four times.

Richardson bluntly said his team didn't play at "an NHL level" against the Canucks. See the video below

Then Richardson tried shake up his players with a battle-drill filled practice on Wednesday. See the link below.

Despite missing 14-plus games, Bedard is tied with Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber for the NHL rookie scoring lead with 33 points. Bedard's 15 goals still are tops among first-year players, one more than than the Wild's Marco Rossi.

Both Faber and Rossi have played in 53 games. Bedard's been in 39.

Bedard is ready for ample ice-time against Pittsburgh, Richardson said. See the following video.

Bedard made his celebrated NHL debut against Crosby and Pittsburgh on Oct. 10 at PPG Paints Arena.

After a tentative start, the night turned out terrific for Blackhawks and Bedard with a 4-2 win. The 18-year-old Chicago center earned his first NHL point with an assist, and his teammates roared back with four straight goals after Crosby scored in the second period.

Bedard was well below the 102-point pace Crosby set as an 18-year-old in 2005-06 after the Penguins drafted him first overall in the previous June. Crosby, the sure-fire"next generational talent" of his era, was the last NHL rookie to score at better than a point-per-game pace.

Now 36, Crosby has kept producing at that kind of clip in his 19th season. The future Hall-of-Famer has 28 goals to lead Pittsburgh and his 52 points are tied for tops with linemate Jake Guentzel.

Guentzel, however, suffered an upper-body injury in the third period of a 5-2 home loss to Florida on Wednesday. He's expected to miss four weeks.

The Penguins have lost three straight and entered Thursday at 23-20-7, seven points behind the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.