Column: Chicago Blackhawks scrooge themselves before the holiday break — but Connor Bedard’s ‘Michigan goal’ is a jaw-dropper

Which is the real talker, the Michigan goal or the Missouri meltdown?

Connor Bedard set the NHL on edge Saturday when he scooped in a lacrosse-style goal against the host St. Louis Blues (before Trevor Zegras tried to hog some of the shine with his own Michigan goal, but more on that later).

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But the Chicago Blackhawks being the Chicago Blackhawks, they’ve made it possible to ignore blowing a three-goal third-period lead by allowing five unanswered goals in a 7-5 collapse, their sixth loss in seven games.

“That’s as frustrating as can be,” Taylor Raddysh said. “I feel like we played great first two periods and kind of dominated the whole thing and just came flat in the third period.

“Three penalties to start the third period doesn’t help. They capitalized with some momentum. Just got to find a way to break it and get one and turn it right around. But we fell once again into that hole, and it’s frustrating.”

The Hawks go into the Christmas break — they return to action Wednesday against the Winnipeg Jets at the United Center — having scrooged the pooch in two straight losses.

They built a 2-0 lead against the Montreal Canadiens on Friday, only to cough up five unanswered goals in that one, too, in a 5-2 defeat.

There are times teams build a comfortable lead and get, well, comfortable.

This wasn’t it.

There also are times when a team — one that’s not entirely confident in itself to begin with — gets a lead and plays not to lose it. That happens when you’ve been stung too often by calamity.

In the third period Saturday, the Hawks played as if they were waiting for the other shoe to drop — and it did.

“We got cautious and it bit us,” Jarred Tinordi said.

“Sitting back and sitting on your heels is never the recipe to win. More often than not in the National Hockey League they’re going to jam it down your throat.”

Now, back to Bedard.

Long from now, when they’re compiling a montage of his greatest plays, his Michigan goal will be on it.

Bedard just casually lifted the puck in the curve of his blade, scooted around the back of the net and scooped it in over Jordan Binnington’s shoulder, like it’s a thing.

Mind you, he started from a standing position and executed it all in one fluid motion.

“There was just no one there, and just thought it was a good play, and yeah, kind of went for it,” Bedard said during an intermission interview with NBC Sports Chicago.

He tried the maneuver last year while playing for Canada but couldn’t pull it off.

It’s called a “Michigan goal” because the Wolverines’ Mike Legg famously scored the lacrosse-style goal during an NCAA regional semifinal against Minnesota on March 24, 1996.

Raddysh said Bedard’s goal surprised him, “but he’s someone that you kind of expect anything from at any time.”

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“He’s so skilled he can make those plays whenever,” Raddysh said. “I don’t think anyone fully ever practices that. I don’t know how many chances you get to make a lacrosse goal. But he has the skills to do it.”

Luke Richardson said the Hawks have seen “a couple things like that” from Bedard before.

“He’s got quick hands and I didn’t even realize what happened until it went in,” he said. “That’s the vision that he has. He can see that when the puck is probably wobbling a little bit. He gets his blade under it and he can scoop it as he’s moving. He’s able to do those things.”

So is Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks.

And he has scored a Michigan goal three times in his career, including in the third period Saturday against the Seattle Kraken’s Joey Daccord.

“When I went behind the net, it’s something I obviously feel comfortable with doing,” Zegras said, according to the Associated Press. “In my opinion, it’s not like a crazy play for me to do. When that goalie goes post to post, usually you’ve got a little room upstairs.

“Lucky enough, it went in.”