5 takeaways from the Chicago Blackhawks’ 3-2 upset of the Colorado Avalanche, including Connor Bedard’s savvy moves

The Chicago Blackhawks almost did it again — and not in a good way.

They took a one-goal lead Tuesday against the Colorado Avalanche and promptly gave up two, a carbon copy of what they did in the second period Sunday against the Vancouver Canucks.

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Only this time it was a first-period opening goal, and how many of those have the Hawks squandered lately?

Ryan Donato was in the right place — net front — when Nikita Zaitsev’s shot ricocheted off the post and hit Donato in the midsection, and Donato swatted in the rebound.

But as we’ve learned this month, the Hawks can’t have nice things.

Nick Foligno — who preaches about not falling victim to letdowns — committed a tripping penalty 1 minute, 38 seconds later. Fifteen seconds after that, Valeri Nichushkin cashed in with a power-play goal.

Twenty seconds later (because Hawks miscues come in bunches), Connor Bedard got called for holding the stick, and Nichushkin struck again.

But this time the Hawks had an answer — and then some.

Bedard and Lukas Reichel struck out on a two-on-one rush, and Reichel finished it for his third goal of the season and first since Nov. 30 in Detroit.

After the Hawks played the Avs to a stalemate in the second period, Tyler Johnson tipped in the game-winner on a third-period power play. The Hawks went tic-tac-toe, Zaitsev to Foligno to Johnson back door, to beat the Avalanche 3-2 and stop a four-game losing streak.

“We have to grab it and use it,” coach Luke Richardson said. “We can’t just sit on it and think that it just happened. It was a lot of hard work and the guys stayed focused.

“Consistency’s a word we’ve been looking for this year, and tonight 60 minutes was really good. Couple power-play goals by them in the first period, but we made some adjustments, we had a big kill in the second and we stayed out of the box the rest of the way, which was smart.”

Phillip Kurashev was a late scratch with an illness.

“He was fine (Tuesday) morning and I guess he woke up from a nap, wasn’t feeling good,” Richardson said. “He got to the rink and it got worse. … We had (Cole) Guttman going for warmups anyway. Gutts filled in and did a great job.”

Here are five takeaways from the win.

1. Lukas Reichel looked right as rain again.

Reichel played with speed and confidence on Bedard’s line, and here’s one prime example.

With a minute and a half left in the first period, he deked Ryan Johansen in the neutral zone and entered the offensive zone with Sam Malinski in hot pursuit.

But Reichel put on the brakes and put Malinski on skis.

“Reichel was skating,” Richardson said. “I think that first goal (on his line) probably gave him a lot of confidence. But even in the first period he had a really strong play against them along our boards at the hashmarks and got the puck out.

“Just playing the right way comes back to you and you get some chances. He had some really nice chances in the second period as well.”

2. Connor Bedard’s aggressive and savvy play paid off.

Before Donato’s opening goal, Bedard picked Bowen Byram’s pocket in the offensive zone, not only stopping an Avs breakout but starting the sequence for another offensive chance.

Bedard made a seam pass to Zaitsev, who shot off the post, and Donato knocked in the rebound.

On Reichel’s goal, Filip Roos stretch-passed from behind the net to Donato in the neutral zone, and Donato chipped it to Bedard. Bedard motored through the neutral zone with such speed that he caught Nichushkin flat-footed, and he and Reichel put Jonathan Drouin in a two-on-one situation.

Drouin never took his eyes off Bedard until Bedard’s pass to Reichel, and then it was too late.

Richardson said Bedard “read (the first goal) really well, and the second one he really took off when he knew that pass was coming from behind the net and it was perfect timing.

“Donato made the good touch on the tip play, but Connor really read it early. And that’s going to be key for him is to trust our guys getting him the puck and taking off and demanding that puck a little more and us trying to find him.”

3. Colin Blackwell returned from a long layoff.

Blackwell last played Feb. 27 in Anaheim, 9 months and 22 days ago. He had sports hernia surgery on March 22.

He missed the first 30 games this season before the Hawks activated him Tuesday. And with Joey Anderson on injured reserve, Blackwell joined the Nick Foligno-Jason Dickinson line, a recent staple on the ice at puck drop.

He played nearly 17 minutes, including penalty killing, and took three shots.

“Not bad for a guy that was basically playing men’s league for the last month,” Blackwell joked.

Richardson added: “Right from the start (and) right to the end, he was chirping on the bench. He had them ruffled up all throughout the game, and that’s him. He’s a little spitfire. … Happy for him. It’s a long road back.”

Blackwell punctuated his performance with a huge hit on Nathan McKinnon with the Hawks facing a 6-on-5 with a minute and a half left.

“It was a big hit, but it’s not like I was intending to do anything like that,” Blackwell said. “Usually when you’re down a guy on the ice, you try not to finish your checks and stuff.

“But they’ve got so much speed, and I learned as the game went on (that) if you’ve just got a piece of some guys — especially guys like (McKinnon) that are always moving and creating that offense where it just seems like they’re buzzing around — it (can) slow things down a little bit.”

Richardson said it was critical.

“That big hit on MacKinnon was big because it not only knocked him down, and that takes a lot of energy out of you,” he said. “It might have even got a crack in (MacKinnon’s) stick, so the next time the puck came, it broke his stick and he looked even more frustrated.

“He looked around to see where Blackwell was after that. I think he was pissed.”

4. The Hawks welcomed back Kevin Korchinski.

Korchinski returned to Chicago and participated in the morning skate for the first time since the funeral of his father, Larry, though the rookie defenseman didn’t play in Tuesday’s game.

“He just got back (Monday) night, so it was great to see him,” Richardson said. “The guys really responded well having him back in the dressing room, and he had a big smile in there (Tuesday) morning.”

The entire Hawks team attended the funeral in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, flying in Friday morning after playing in Seattle the night before.

Bedard said Korchinski texted teammates about the gesture.

“We were all super happy to be able to go and be there to support him,” Bedard said. “That’s just part of being on a team and growing those relationships and that family.”

Johnson lit up when asked about Korchinski.

“I don’t know if anyone knew he was coming back,” he said, “so it was a big, uplifting thing to be able to see him. I mean, he’s family, he’s our brother. We miss him.”

Richardson didn’t have a timeline for when Korchinski will play again.

“We’re going to let him have a couple of practices and see where he’s at and let him tell us when he’s ready to go,” he said.

5. Should Connor Bedard play in every situation?

Bedard averages 15 minutes, 42 seconds on the ice, sixth-highest on the team. That includes 3:47 per game on the power play but not a minute on the penalty kill.

And don’t expect him on the ice in a defensive-zone faceoff, defending a one-goal lead.

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But it begs the question: Shouldn’t Richardson expose the rookie to every conceivable game scenario in what amounts to a learning season for the rebuilding Hawks?

“I think he will see every situation — some of it will be from the bench,” Richardson quipped. “Not lying there.

“There are games where we’re at as a team when we’re down in games, like last game, he’s going to play a lot. He’s going to be out there every second shift trying to get us that opportunity to tie the game.”

It doesn’t mean Bedard hasn’t faced any high-leverage situations.

During a 4-3 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators on Dec. 5, Bedard took a couple of shots on goal in overtime and scored his first shootout goal.

“It’d be great to get a few more of those situations like last game,” Richardson said. “It would’ve been very interesting to see Connor out there (in 3-on-3) against Vancouver, one of the top scoring teams.

“His last game against Nashville, he had the opportunity (and) he was excellent defensively just as he was offensively.”