Three reasons why Blackhawks benefited from Connor Bedard's absence

Immediately after Connor Bedard's Dec. 12 injury, Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said he hoped his star player's absence would force his team to learn new skills that would help them down the road.

The Hawks did exactly that. They went 5-6-1 overall without Bedard but 5-1-1 after Christmas, and they generated only two fewer five-on-five scoring chances than they allowed (249 to 251) during that entire span.

As Bedard returns to the lineup Friday against the Capitals, it's fair to say the Hawks ended up benefiting from his absence in several ways:

Offensive-zone identity

Blashill talks frequently about how odd-man rushes — and transition offense in general — dry up during the playoffs, weeding out teams who don't know how to dominate the offensive zone.

Since the Hawks' team-wide speed often causes them to rely on transition offense, Blashill wanted to see some diversification. They've developed more of what he calls an "O-zone identity."

It's predicated on winning puck battles below the goal line — where forwards like Tyler Bertuzzi and Ryan Donato excel — and then passing low-to-high to defensemen at the point.

The defensemen are free to fire away, and they have been shooting more. If their shooting lane appears blocked, however, they can lob the puck down low again to restart the cycle. The forwards seem to be improving at anticipating what the defensemen will do and positioning themselves properly, too.

The Hawks have also made smarter, safer neutral-zone decisions about when to carry the puck across the blue line or dump it in.

Balanced scoring

At the time of Bedard's injury, he had scored or assisted on 48.4% of the Hawks' goals this season — nearly half. Including Frank Nazar, who got injured a week later and isn't close to returning yet, that percentage rose to 65.9%.

Other Hawks stepped up to patch that hole. Bertuzzi and Andre Burakovsky (eight points each in 12 games without Bedard) remained productive with Ryan Greene as their center.

Ilya Mikheyev recorded as many many points (seven) during Bedard's absence as he had before it. Defenseman Artyom Levshunov (six points) took a major step in terms of "attacking the game offensively," Blashill said.

Nick Lardis, whose call-up was prompted by Bedard's injury, has flashed his potential as a deadly finisher with three goals — and two shootout goals — in his last nine games (entering Friday). Nick Foligno's return from injury has stabilized the fourth line, too.

Fans should expect this trend to continue even with Bedard back.

"With the schedule we have, we have to be a four-line team," Blashill said recently. "There were times this year Connor played 22 or 24 minutes, which is hard for me to spit out of my mouth because that’s too much. We’re going to have to be more in that 18-20 [minute range] for guys on the high end, and have more from some of the other guys. They’ll get ample opportunity."

New center

Given the lack of center depth, Blashill recently gave Oliver Moore a chance in the middle, and it unlocked a new level within the 20-year-old rookie.

The Hawks have outshot opponents 31-21 and outscored them 4-3 during Moore's ice time as a center (entering Friday). He looks dramatically more comfortable, using his speed to break down defenses instead of skating pointlessly into corners. Blashill has increased his trust in him in high-pressure situations, and he's delivering consistent results — even winning faceoffs.

The Hawks have been pleased with Greene's hockey IQ and comfort level shouldering a heavy workload, as well, even though he's very snakebitten in the scoring department.

With veterans Foligno and Jason Dickinson also playing well, the Hawks suddenly face the prospect of a surplus of centers in the near future. Perhaps they'll entertain moving Nazar to wing once he returns.