Morning Chirps: CHL playoffs set, more history for Ovechkin

The Chicago Blackhawks are off today before heading on a four-game road trip out east. Sacha Boisvert and Anton Frondell are expected to make their NHL debuts at some point on the trip, possibly as early as Tuesday. Stay tuned!

Blackhawks Chirps

• I had a lot of postgame thoughts after yesterday’s overtime loss to the Nashville Predators. From the penalty kill to Andre Burakovsky’s struggles to Matt Grzelczyk’s injury, I’ve got it all covered.

• I discussed many of the same topics with Jay and Mario on the CHGO Blackhawks Postgame Show yesterday.

• The Rockford IceHogs won their second straight game by beating the Grand Rapids Griffins 4-1. Kevin Lombardi was the hero with his two first-period goals, including the first one just 11 seconds into the game. Joey Anderson and Jamie Engelbert added insurance goals, with Samuel Savoie recording an assist for the third straight game. An Eduards Tralmaks second-period goal was the only blemish between Owen Flores and his first AHL shutout. He stopped 31 of the 32 shots he faced for his third win of the season. The IceHogs still face an uphill battle to make the Calder Cup Playoffs as they trail the Milwaukee Admirals by six points with 10 games left. They have no more head-to-head matchups with the Admirals left. However, they have five games left against the Iowa Wild, the only team in the Central Division with fewer points than they do.

• Speaking of playoffs, the Canadian Hockey League concluded its regular season on Sunday, and plenty of Blackhawks prospects will get some valuable postseason experience. In the Ontario Hockey League, Marek Vanacker, Parker Holmes, and the Brantford Bulldogs are the overall top seed. They will play the Sudbury Wolves in the first round, who had 50 fewer points during the season, starting on Friday. Jack Pridham and the Kitchener Rangers are the top seed in the Western Conference and will play the Saginaw Spirit, with Game 1 on Friday. A.J. Spellacy and the Windsor Spitfires have the second seed after winning the West Division. Their series against the Guelph Storm starts on Thursday. In the Western Hockey League, Nathan Behm and the Kamloops Blazers finished in fifth place in the Western Conference. They will play the Kelowna Rockets starting on Friday. All series throughout the CHL playoffs are best-of-seven.

• On this date in 1952, Bill Mosienko set the NHL record for the fastest hat trick by scoring three goals in 21 seconds during a 7-6 win over the New York Rangers. The hat trick was the fifth and final one of his career.

• In 1965, Stan Mikita set the league record for assists in a season by picking up his 59th helper in a 3-2 loss to the Rangers. He broke the record previously held by Jean Beliveau and Andy Bathgate.

• In 1999, traded defenseman Chris Chelios to the Detroit Red Wings for two first-round picks and blueliner Anders Eriksson. Chelios went on to play 10 seasons with the Red Wings and won two Stanley Cups. Trading away a popular hometown Hall of Famer to your bitter rival is one thing, but when you get nothing in return, it makes it sting even more. Andres Eriksson only played 97 games for the Blackhawks, while the two first-round picks, Steve McCarthy and Adam Munro, never had NHL careers worthy of those picks.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, March 23: John Tonelli, Wayne Presley, Nolan Baumgartner, and Laurent Brossoit.

NHL Chirps

• Florida Panthers forward A.J. Greer was suspended for three games for his blatant hit from behind on Calgary Flames forward Connor Zary, who is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

• Injuries have derailed the last two seasons for the New Jersey Devils. Even though their playoff hopes are all but dashed, they’ve lost two more key contributors. Head coach Sheldon Keefe announced that Stefan Noesen will miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery in January. He added that defenseman Brett Pesce is questionable to return before the end of the season. He has been out with a lower-body injury since March 3.

• According to Elliotte Friedman, there is an agreement between the NHL and CHL that would allow any 19-year-old player drafted in the first round to play in the AHL as soon as next year. As of now, no CHL player under 20 can play in the AHL; it’s either the NHL or juniors.

• Alex Ovechkin scored in the Washington Capitals’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche. With the tally, he joined Wayne Gretzky as the only players in NHL history to score 1,000 goals in the regular season and playoffs combined.

• The Columbus Blue Jackets had their 12-game points streak snapped in a 1-0 loss to the New York Islanders. It was their first regulation loss since Feb. 26. With the win, the Islanders jumped ahead of the Red Wings for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

• The Buffalo Sabres extended their road points streak to 15 games with a 6-5 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks. They haven’t suffered a regulation road loss since Jan. 19. I am looking forward to seeing both of these teams back in the Stanley Cup Playoffs next month.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, March 23: Bill Touhey, Charlie Sands, Warren Godfrey, Don Marshall, Ted Green, Bengt-Ake Gustafsson, Daren Pulppa, Gord Murphy, Alexander Selivanov, Michal Neuvirth, Mark Barberio, Erik Haula, Dmitrij Jaskin, Oskar Sundqvist, Joel Kiviranta, and Xavier Parent.