Kevin Korchinski returned to the Blackhawks’ lineup Friday in a 5-2 loss to the Canadiens, helping out the Hawks and possibly also helping out himself.

The rookie defenseman logged more than 20 minutes of ice time after missing the last six games following the death of his father, Larry.

“He seemed to be smiling and happy to be back,” coach Luke Richardson said. “Sometimes [with] tough things in life, it really weighs on the mind and the body physically. Getting out with his teammates and focusing on his job and the game, it can give your mind a little bit of relief.”

Jarred Tinordi also returned from a concussion, and Wyatt Kaiser and Filip Roos were sent to Rockford in corresponding moves. Kaiser will get more AHL time, after all, to work on rebuilding his confidence.

Korchinski showed off his smooth stride on a few occasions, but he also made a mistake on one second-period shift, going to the same side of the ice as partner Nikita Zaitsev and leaving Canadiens forward Josh Anderson wide open on the back door.

“[Kevin] had an excellent third period, and he did some things in the first couple periods just with his skating ability alone,” Richardson said. “Even during the six-on-five at the end, he had a nice shot.”

Anderson’s goal was one of five straight the Canadiens scored, quieting a season-best crowd of 20,340 at the United Center after the Hawks initially took a 2-0 lead.

Bedard, meet Wemby

Before the San Antonio Spurs’ loss to the Bulls on Thursday, the Hawks arranged for Connor Bedard to meet Spurs center Victor Wembanyama for the first time.

Having the two much-hyped No. 1 overall picks from this past summer (in their respective sports) together in the same room lended itself to plenty of content, including a photoshoot and sit-down interview together.

But Bedard also seemed genuinely interested to get to know his 7-4 basketball-dunking, shot-blocking French counterpart.

“He’s going to be — or he already is — really special,” Bedard said. “[It was great] getting to talk to him a bit and hear his perspective [about] coming over from Europe and [being in] similar situations — him even more, just with how big the NBA is. It was good to get to talk to him.”

In the photoshoot, Wembanyama used 6-8 Hawks defenseman Louis Crevier’s stick, because it was the longest the Hawks had to offer — but it was still a bit too short for him.

Crevier learning on the fly

Speaking of Crevier, the 22-year-old Quebec City native faced his home-province team for the first time Friday, earning his third career assist in his ninth career game on Jason Dickinson’s second-period goal.

After morning skate, Crevier was the most popular guy in the Hawks’ locker room; a horde of traveling Montreal-based reporters immediately flocked to him.

That kind of bright spotlight is one of many things that have amazed Crevier about the NHL. The on-ice quality and difficulty is another. The Avalanche’s second power-play goal Tuesday, in which Valeri Nichushkin boxed out Crevier in the crease and scored on his second attempt on Petr Mrazek, represents a prime example.

“I feel like I was right there with Nichushkin,” Crevier said. “[Mikko] Rantanen was kinda looking and I’m like, ‘He’s not going to pass that.’ But he still made the play, and I was caught off-guard. Because that’s a play I’ve seen before, but when I’m near the guy, they usually don’t try to make that pass.”

“But there’s no way of learning that apart from playing against those guys. I love it.”

Along the way, he’s trying to continue to appreciate every day and not let the joy he felt after his surprising initial call-up fade away.

“I don’t want to be super anxious for every game,” he added. “But...I’m still really enjoying it. It’s super cool.”