Ovechkin scored the first goal of the game in the first period, and he appropriately tied Gretzky with a one-timer from his ...

The Chicago Blackhawks suffered their fifth consecutive loss on Tuesday night, falling 6-2 to the Seattle Kraken in yet another frustrating defeat in which Connor Bedard made history.

Nearly seven minutes later, Martin Fehervary tied it for the Caps, hustling hard to the net to punch a puck in the paint across the goal line after a Connor ... Lemieux, [Mark] Messier, on and ...

(Jean) Beliveau to Howe, (Bobby) Orr, (Mario) Lemieux, (Mark) Messier ... Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and Connor Bedard. For her, John Tortorella is the greatest coach ever.

So MacKinnon was truly speaking from experience earlier this week when he offered a vote of confidence to Connor Bedard ... and ahead of Steve Yzerman and Mark Messier (both 65 games).

Connor Bedard’s sophomore season has underwhelmed. It’s OK to say it out loud.

Bedard has now scored in three consecutive home games after sniping the top corner Sunday against the Flyers, but the next step is to begin outperforming his expected goals.