Morning Chirps: Bedard & Celebrini make history, Roy threatens Rantanen

The Chicago Blackhawks have the day off after a big win last night. They will have their first set of back-to-back games, hosting the Seattle Kraken on Thursday before traveling to the Buffalo Sabres on Friday. Let’s get you caught up on a busy night across the National Hockey League.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Connor Bedard had an “A” on his sweater and an A+ on his report. Check out all my late-night thoughts on last night’s 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames.

Home game means another appearance on the CHGO Blackhawks Postgame Show.

• Bedard’s good buddy Macklin Celebrini scored a hat trick too last night, because, of course, he did. They accomplished something that hadn’t been done in over 80 years.

• Before the game, Ty Glenn took a look back at Connor Bedard’s nine-game point streak and discussed the comparisons he’s been getting to another franchise legend.

• It’s been a few days since we’ve had a Roman Kantserov highlight. His KHL-leading 18th goal of the season was worth the wait. By far, this is his filthiest goal of the season.

• On this date in 1955, “Mr. Hockey” Gordie Howe had two goals and an assist in the Detroit Red Wings’ 5-1 win over the Blackhawks. His performance gave him 600 points in 591 career games.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Nov. 19: James Bedard, Dennis Hull, Jeff Glass, and Patrick Kane.

NHL Chirps

• When the New York Rangers hosted the Red Wings on Sunday, both teams wore their centennial jerseys, giving us an aesthetic rarely seen in the NHL. Neither team was wearing a white jersey, and according to The Athletic’s Peter Baugh, the league’s marketing department has actively encouraged teams to explore color-on-color jersey matchups. I love this idea! How cool would it have been to see the Toronto Maple Leafs in their blue jerseys when they were in town last weekend? Let’s see what jersey the Blackhawks wear when they visit Madison Square Garden on March 27.

• The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward Philip Tomasino on waivers Tuesday. It will be interesting to see if the former first-round pick of the Nashville Predators clears with all the teams around the league looking for help down the middle. If I were a betting man, I’d say he doesn’t.

• Add Matthew Knies to the list of walking wounded in Toronto. He missed last night’s game against the St. Louis Blues, along with Auston Matthews, Brandon Carlo, Chris Tanev, and Anthony Stolarz. He is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The game got off to a disastrous start for the Maple Leafs, with William Nylander knocking the puck into his own net. But, he made up for it with the overtime goal in a 3-2 Toronto victory.

• Mark Scheifele set a Winnipeg Jets franchise record by playing in his 898th game. He recorded three assists in the Jets’ 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

• Jake Guentzel had a hat trick to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils. Nikita Kucherov scored his 366th career goal to pass Martin St. Louis for third in team history. If he stays healthy, he’ll surpass Vincent Lecavalier’s 383 goals. He still has a ways to go to catch Steven Stamkos and his 555 goals in a Lightning uniform.

• The end of the New York Islanders’ 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars was crazy. Mikko Rantanen was given major penalty and game misconduct for boarding Alexander Romanov. However, when you watch the replay, Rantanen appeared to get clipped by Scott Mayfield. That didn’t stop Patrick Roy from telling Rantanen that he won’t finish the next game when they play each other again. Then the Stars scored to tie the game with 0.1 seconds remaining, only to have the goal taken off the scoreboard due to goalie interference.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Nov. 19: Rejean Lemelin, Grant Ledyard, Dmitry Yushkevich, Petr Sykora, John Moore, Cale Fleury, and Martin Pospisil.