Must see: Hawks phenom Connor Bedard injured after massive open ice hit

Midway through the first period of the Chicago Blackhawks and New Jersey Devils game on Friday, Devils defenseman Brendan Smith landed a thunderous hit against Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard that forced the rookie out of the game.

Traversing through the neutral zone and making his way into the offensive end with 90 seconds remaining on their power play, Smith stepped up and levelled Bedard, who had lowered his head for just a second. The check itself was relatively clean, directed towards his chest, and although the head was involved, it wasn't the principle point of contact as Mark Lazerus of The Athletic tweeted out shortly afterwards.


Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev stepped in right away and went after Smith once the hit was made and then in the second period, veteran forward, Nick Foligno forced Smith to answer for the hit, dropping the gloves with the veteran in what was easily one of the longest fights in the season.



The tilt lasted about 62 seconds with punches being thrown with regularity and the referees maybe understanding the situation as they stood idly by and didn't interfere.

Bedard, who just yesterday became the youngest NHL All-Star in the history of the game, played only 3:05 tonight before exiting with what was deemed an undisclosed injury. He was holding his face following the hit, so the fear is that he may have suffered a broken jaw on the play. Unfortunately, we won't know anything until the Hawks provide an official update.

Bedard has 15 goals and 33 points through 38 games for the 31st ranked Blackhawks who sport an 11-25-2 record.