Morning Chirps: Avalanche wins Presidents' Trophy, two more teams clinch playoff berths

The Chicago Blackhawks will be back on the practice ice later this afternoon. Later today, the first class of the Blackhawks Hall of Fame will be inducted in a special ceremony at the USG Arena. The group of franchise legends will be honored during Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Carolina Hurricanes rested seven of their regular players, including many of their top scorers. In a testament to how well-coached they are, they still rolled to a 7-2 victory with a lineup similar to a preseason game. Check out my postgame thoughts on what went wrong, in case you missed them last night.

• We broke the game down further on the CHGO Blackhawks Postgame Show.

• On this date in 1934, the Blackhawks beat the Detroit Red Wings 1-0 to win the franchise's first Stanley Cup. Mush Marsh scored the game’s only goal in the second overtime. Hall of Fame goaltender and team captain earned the shutout in his final game. He died of a brain hemorrhage the following June.

• In 1993, Chris Chelios set a new team single-season record with his 55th assist in a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The previous record of 54 was held by Doug Wilson. He finished the 1992-93 season with 58 helpers, a team record.

• In 2011, the Blackhawks almost became the fourth reigning Stanley Cup champion to miss the postseason. After losing 4-3 to the Red Wings in the regular season finale, they needed the Minnesota Wild to beat the Dallas Stars to clinch the eighth seed in the Western Conference. Thankfully, they came through with a 5-3 victory.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, April 10: Ron Murphy, Rob Brown, Enrico Ciccone, and Brandon Pirri.

NHL Chirps

• The Buffalo Sabres are the feel-good story of the season, as they went from dead last in the Eastern Conference in January to the top of the Atlantic Division. However, who will be in the crease come Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is now a major question. Goaltender Alex Lyon, who has made the most starts this season, suffered a lower-body injury during Wednesday's morning skate. Head coach Lindy Ruff said Lyon will be re-evaluated in a week and might not be ready for the start of the postseason.

• It has been a ridiculously unlucky year for the Florida Panthers when it comes to injuries. Seth Jones has not been able to escape the wrath of the injury bug. Head coach Paul Maurice announced that Jones suffered a broken foot in Tuesday’s loss to the Canadiens, and his season is done. He broke his foot at some point in the second period and still played almost 30 minutes. He missed over two months after suffering a collarbone injury during the Winter Classic.

• Ottawa Senators' defenseman Thomas Chabot suffered a broken arm on March 23 and was supposed to miss 4-6 weeks after undergoing surgery three days later. He returned to the lineup last night and played 21:15 in a 5-1 win over the Panthers. The Senators control their own fate with a three-point lead over the Red Wings and New York Islanders for the final Eastern Conference wild card spot with three games remaining.

• The Colorado Avalanche have clinched the Presidents’ Trophy for the fourth time in franchise history and the first time since 2021. The only time they won both the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same season was in 2001.

• The Pittsburgh Penguins and Utah Mammoth both punched their tickets to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. First-year Penguins coach Dan Muse should get some consideration for the Jack Adams Award, as nobody predicted Pittsburgh to make the postseason.

• The Dallas Stars beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4. These two teams will meet in the first round, but home-ice advantage has yet to be determined. The Stars now have a four-point lead on the Wild with three games to go. The feisty affair was highlighted by Cameron Hughes’ first NHL goal. The 29-year-old has only four games of NHL experience, squeezed in between 456 AHL games over the last nine seasons.

• The San Jose Sharks' playoff hopes are dimming after a 6-1 beating at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks. Defenseman John Carlson scored his first career hat trick to put the Ducks into second place in the Pacific Division.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, April 10: Dutch Gainor, Donald Dufresne, Dennis Vial, Sean Avery, Alexei Semenov, Dion Phaneuf, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Riley Tufte, and Dylan Guenther.