Connor Bedard scores as Blackhawks top Avalanche 3-1

CHICAGO (AP) — Connor Bedard had a goal and an assist, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Frank Nazar and Ilya Mikheyev also scored for Chicago, which had lost six of seven. Petr Mrazek stopped 35 shots.

Bedard made it 3-1 when he beat Trent Miner for his 11th goal 11:54 into the third period. The 19-year-old center has four goals and seven assists during an eight-game point streak, a career-best run in his second season.

Juuso Parssinen scored for Colorado in the opener of a three-game trip. Miner stopped 17 shots in his first career start.

The Avs played without forward Jonathan Drouin, who was sidelined by an upper-body injury. They dropped to 12-4-1 in their last 17 games.

Colorado jumped in front when Parssinen converted a backhand 6:14 into the first period. It was his first goal since he was acquired in a trade with Nashville on Dec. 28.

Mikheyev responded with his eighth of the season with 3:12 left in the first.

Nazar lifted the Blackhawks to a 2-1 lead 10:17 into the second. Colton Dach got his first NHL point when his shot created a rebound opportunity for a streaking Nazar, who knocked it in for his second career goal.

Avalanche: It was a tough start to the road trip for Colorado, which also lost 5-2 to Chicago on Oct. 28.

Blackhawks: Nazar has played well since he was recalled from the minors last month. But he had no goals and two assists in 11 games before breaking through against the Avs.

Chicago was clinging to a 2-1 lead when Mrazek made a terrific sliding save on Nathan MacKinnon with 21.2 seconds left in the second.

The Avs went 0 for 2 on the power play.

Colorado visits Minnesota on Thursday night. Chicago is at Detroit on Friday night.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard (98) gets the puck past Colorado Avalanche goaltender Trent Miner (50) but it is declared no goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Petr Mrazek (34) deflects a shot by the Colorado Avalanche during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) handles the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Colorado Avalanche center Juuso Parssinen (16) skates to the bench after scoring on the Chicago Blackhawks during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Blackhawks right wing Ilya Mikheyev (95) celebrates his goal on the Colorado Avalanche during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Colorado Avalanche center Juuso Parssinen (16) scores on Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Petr Mrazek (34) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Blackhawks center Frank Nazar (91) celebrates after scoring on the Colorado Avalanche during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard (98) skates back to the bench after getting the puck past Colorado Avalanche goaltender Trent Miner (50) but it is declared no goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ahn Sung-ki, one of South Korean cinema’s biggest stars whose prolific 60-year career and positive, gentle public image earned him the nickname “The Nation’s Actor,” died Monday. He was 74.

Ahn, who had suffered blood cancer for years, was pronounced dead at Seoul's Soonchunhyang University Hospital, his agency, the Artist Company, and hospital officials said.

“We feel deep sorrow at the sudden, sad news, pray for the eternal rest of the deceased and offer our heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family members," the Artist Company said in a statement.

President Lee Jae Myung issued a condolence message saying Ahn provided many people with comfort, joy and time for reflection. “I already miss his warm smile and gentle voice,” Lee wrote on Facebook.

Born to a filmmaker in the southeastern city of Daegu in 1952, Ahn made his debut as a child actor in the movie “The Twilight Train” in 1957. He subsequently appeared in about 70 movies as a child actor before he left the film industry to live an ordinary life.

In 1970, Ahn entered Seoul’s Hankuk University of Foreign Studies as a Vietnamese major. Ahn said he graduated with top honors but failed to land jobs at big companies, who likely saw his Vietnamese major largely useless after a communist victory in the Vietnam War in 1975.

Ahn returned to the film industry in 1977 believing he could still excel in acting. In 1980, he rose to fame for his lead role in Lee Jang-ho’s “Good, Windy Days,” a hit coming-of-age movie about the struggle of working-class men from rural areas during the country’s rapid rise. Ahn won the best new actor award in the prestigious Grand Bell Awards, the Korean version of the Academy Awards.

He later starred in a series of highly successful and critically acclaimed movies, sweeping best actor awards and becoming arguably the country’s most popular actor in much of the 1980-90s.

Some of his memorable roles included a Buddhist monk in 1981’s “Mandara,” a beggar in 1984’s “Whale Hunting,” a Vietnam War veteran-turned-novelist in 1992’s “White Badge,” a corrupt police officer in 1993’s “Two Cops,” a murderer in 1999’s “No Where To Hide,” a special forces trainer in 2003’s “Silmido” and a devoted celebrity manager in 2006’s “Radio Star.”

Ahn had collected dozens of trophies in major movie awards in South Korea, including winning the Grand Bell Awards for best actor five times, an achievement no other South Korean actors have matched yet.

Ahn built up an image as a humble, trustworthy and family-oriented celebrity who avoided major scandals and maintained a quiet, stable personal life. Past public surveys chose Ahn as South Korea’s most beloved actor and deserving of the nickname “The Nation’s Actor.”

Ahn said he earlier felt confined with his “The Nation's Actor” labeling but eventually thought that led him down the right path. In recent years, local media has given other stars similar honorable nicknames, but Ahn was apparently the first South Korean actor who was dubbed “The Nation's Actor.”

“I felt I should do something that could match that title. But I think that has eventually guided me on a good direction,” Ahn said in an interview with Yonhap news agency in 2023.

In media interviews, Ahn couldn’t choose what his favorite movie was, but said that his role as a dedicated, hardworking manger for a washed-up rock singer played by Park Jung-hoon resembled himself in real life the most.

Ahn was also known for his reluctance to do love scenes. He said said he was too shy to act romantic scenes and sometimes asked directors to skip steamy scenes if they were only meant to add spice to movies.

“I don’t do well on acting like looking at someone who I don’t love with loving eyes and kissing really romantically. I feel shy and can’t express such emotions well,” Ahn said in an interview with the Shindonga magazine in 2007. “Simply, I’m clumsy on that. So I couldn’t star in such movies a lot. But ultimately, that was a right choice for me.”

Ahn is survived by his wife and their two sons. A mourning station at a Seoul hospital was to run until Friday.

FILE - South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki smiles for a photo on the red carpet at the 56th Daejong Film Awards ceremony in Seoul, South Korea, June 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

FILE - South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki attends an event as part of the 11th Pusan International Film Festival in Busan, South Korea, Oct. 13, 2006. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)