Morning Sports Update

Connor Bedard commented on playing against ‘slippery’ Brad Marchand

Bedard, who scored his first NHL goal, called the TD Garden atmosphere a "pretty, pretty cool place."

By Hayden Bird

October 12, 2023

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Connor Bedard’s reaction to Brad Marchand: In just his second NHL game, Connor Bedard — the number one overall pick from the 2023 NHL Draft — may have gotten his “welcome to the NHL moment” going up against Brad Marchand.

Facing the Bruins in TD Garden, Chicago’s Bedard showed his resilience, but only after he took a penalty while trying to defend the 35-year-old Bruins winger. And in another sequence, Marchand pulled the rookie into the Boston bench.

Still, the 18-year-old Bedard didn’t seem to think it was a notable moment in his young career when asked about battling Marchand.

“No, I don’t think so,” Bedard said after the game, according to MassLive’s Lauren Campbell. “It was a pretty brief moment. Obviously, I took a penalty out of it.

“That’s what makes him so good is how slippery he is, and obviously, I kind of tripped him, I guess,” Bedard acknowledged. “But I don’t know. It’s just part of the game and I don’t know if that was kind of the moment I would say it was the ‘welcome to the NHL.'”

Though Chicago lost to the Bruins, Bedard managed to tally his first career NHL goal in the process.

“It was definitely a relief,” he admitted. “I mean, something you dream of your whole life. And to have it happen, like I was saying before, in this building and it’s a pretty, pretty cool place. Another ‘Original Six’ team to get it [against]. It was a cool moment for sure.”

Trivia: Who was the most recent player the Bruins picked number one overall in an NHL Draft?

(Answer at the bottom).

Hint: It happened in 1997.

Scores and schedule:

The Bruins got off to a winning start with a 3-1 victory over Chicago in the 2023-2024 opener on Wednesday night. David Pastrnak scored twice (including one that was assisted by newly-returned Milan Lucic) and Trent Frederic also added a goal.

On Saturday, the Revolution will be away to play Nashville SC at 8:30 p.m.

And on Sunday, the Patriots will play the Raiders in Las Vegas at 4:05 p.m.

More from Boston.com:

• Pastrnak scores 2 goals to lead Bruins past Blackhawks 3-1 in season opener at TD Garden
• Bruins-Blackhawks takeaways: How Brad Marchand, B’s limited Connor Bedard
• Milan Lucic turns back the clock in first game with Bruins in 8 years
• The Celtics have a very deep training camp roster: 8 takeaways vs. 76ers
• Here are the odds that the Red Sox will acquire Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto
• Ex-Patriots player Sergio Brown taken into custody in mother’s death
• NFL insider says people who think Robert Kraft would never fire Bill Belichick are ‘wrong’
• What Mac Jones said about retaining the Patriots’ starting QB job after back-to-back benchings
• Bill Belichick was asked why he let Jakobi Meyers go. Here’s his response.
• Chris Russo ranted about NFL scheduling Patriots-Broncos as a primetime matchup
• Here’s how opposing NBA general managers view the Celtics
• Tom Brady’s TB12 Foxborough location reportedly set to close
• Brockton’s AJ Dybantsa, top player in Class of 2026, reclassifies to 2025
• NCAA President Charlie Baker to testify during Senate hearing on college sports next week

A moment from opening night: Number Four connected with a young Bruins fan.

The stare-down game: After Atlanta shortstop Orlando Arcia mocked Bryce Harper following his failed base-running gamble in Game 2 of the NLDS, Harper came back with two home runs in a 10-2 Phillies win in Game 3. He stared down Arcia as he rounded the bases each time.

“It’s just a game. It’s fun,” Harper said in a TBS interview afterward. “Everybody played a really good game. That’s what it’s all about.”

On this day: In 1979, Celtics guard Chris Ford hit the first three-point shot in NBA history. Viewing it in the replay below, it’s an anticlimax (being just a seemingly regular-looking play). But it was the first moment of what has become an inexorable evolution in the game.

The Celtics, meanwhile, defeated the Rockets that day, 114-106.

Daily highlight: Lucic to Pastrnak, simple as that.

Trivia answer: Joe Thornton