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)

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Shreyas Iyer was provisionally named in India’s squad on Saturday for the home one-day international series against New Zealand starting Jan. 11.

India will host the Black Caps in a white-ball engagement — three ODIs and five T20s — in the build-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Iyer returns to the international fold after sustaining a spleen injury during an ODI against Australia in Sydney last October.

His selection is subject to fitness clearance from BCCI’s medical team and he will return as India’s vice-captain for the three-match series.

Skipper Shubman Gill also returns, after he missed the ODI series against South Africa in December. He had a neck spasm in the test series earlier, and subsequently played in the T20s against the Proteas.

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Verma missed out. Gaikwad had scored a maiden ODI hundred against South Africa in Visakhapatnam.

Rishabh Pant is retained as second keeper-batter behind Lokesh Rahul, who had stood in as captain against the Proteas.

Star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had both participated in the domestic List A tournament — Vijay Hazare Trophy — and return to the international stage for the ODIs.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya is fit, but not sufficiently enough to bowl 10 overs in an ODI. Thus, he has been rested further ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup (in India and Sri Lanka) starting Feb. 7. Nitish Kumar Reddy is included in the squad.

Pacer Mohammed Siraj returns to lead the bowling lineup with Jasprit Bumrah rested again. Siraj had missed the South Africa series because of workload management.

The three ODIs will be played in Vadodara (Jan. 11), Rajkot (Jan. 14) and Indore (Jan. 18), with the five-match T20 series starting Jan. 21.

Squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

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

FILE - Captain of Punjab Kings Shreyas Iyer addresses a news conference on the eve of the final match of Indian Premier League at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)