Connor Bedard said it all when he talked about last night’s game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks at the postgame scrum:
“They play really boring. It’s not like a dig or anything. They sit back a lot and make it hard to get zone entries.”
The 20-year-old could take a look at his own quote and learn that winning hockey is sometimes not the prettiest of hockey. Winning games in the NHL is not easy, especially for a young team trying to find their identity, but winning a 3-1 game on the road would have been definitely more fun than losing 5-4 in a shootout but everyone had fun.
First period
Bedard scored his third goal of the season as he tipped home a shot from forward Ilya Mikheyev at the 7:04 mark of the first period. Bedard found himself in front of the net after some nice pressure in the neutral zone that led to Mikheyev taking the puck to the net.
Connor Bedard tips Ilya Mikheyev’s shot to the net, and the puck goes off Anton Forsberg’s skate and in.
It’s Bedard’s third goal of the season. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/7pDtNcW02Q
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 26, 2025
Chicago would take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Second period
Chicago would squander the lead after Alex Laferriere and Kevin Fiala scored minutes apart in the first five minutes of action to give the Kings the 2-1 lead. Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom was beat short side by Laferriere on a 2-on-1 that the 26-year-old Swedish netminder wishes he had back.
Fiala found himself on a breakaway and ran out of room but did an excellent job of wrapping around behind the bet and slammed home the game-winner before Soderblom could get back to his opposite post. Neither goal was pretty but both were an indictment on the Chicago defense giving the visiting Kings too many odd-man rushes.
Kevin Fiala – Los Angeles Kings (5) pic.twitter.com/AGi8rNRnoM
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 27, 2025
Alex Laferriere – Los Angeles Kings (2) pic.twitter.com/QTbRY1mHkr
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 27, 2025
Third period
Joel Armia scored his second of the season into an empty net to give the Kings their 3-1 victory and extend their point streak to five games.
Analysis
The Chicago power play was awful with not much action on five power play chances. For the season, Chicago has hit on 15.6% of their power plays, which ranks 26th in the NHL.
Bedard scored and was a good listen to in the locker room afterward. The third-year center is coming into his own and feeling more comfortable as a leader.
Mikheyev left the game after being tripped and appeared to be holding his right shoulder skating off the ice. As per reports from Ben Pope, the winger is consider day-to-day.