Morning Chirps: Frondell & Kantserov light the lamp, Fleury gets his flowers

The Chicago Blackhawks earned their first preseason win last night and are sending another group up north to take on the Minnesota Wild tonight. We’ll have a game preview with three things to watch for later today, and then some Postgame Musings after the final horn. So, stick around after checking out your Sunday Morning Chirps.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Colton Dach is doing everything that is being asked of him, and he was a huge part of last night's third-period comeback against the St. Louis Blues. In case you missed them last night, check out my Blackhawks Postgame Musings with my thoughts on Lukas Reichel, Ethan Del Mastro, Ryan Greene, and more.

• Before the game, the Blackhawks reduced their training camp roster to 42 players with a series of roster moves. Forwards Brett Seney and Paul Ludwinski, and defensemen Cavan Fitzgerald, Andrew Perrott, Taige Harding, Dmitry Kuzmin, and Ryan Mast were all assigned to the Rockford IceHogs. Expect some more roster moves later today or tomorrow.

• Speaking of the IceHogs, they released their training camp schedule and initial roster, which now includes 15 forwards, nine defensemen, and two goaltenders. Their first practice is later today. The IceHogs will play two preseason games before kicking off the regular season against the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday.

• Anton Frondell scored his first career Swedish Hockey League goal in Djurgarden’s 4-2 win on Saturday. He made a nice move, pushing off the defender to create space, then somehow got his stick on the puck as it went by.

• Roman Kantserov continues to light up the Kontinental Hockey League as the top-line center for Metallurg Magnitogorsk. He scored his fourth goal of the season yesterday. If you’ve been paying attention, he’s been spending a lot of time in the dirty areas of the ice and getting rewarded for it.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Sept. 28: Art Wiebe, Tim Trimper, Ray Emery, Jackson Cates, and Isaak Phillips.

NHL Chirps

• The drama between Mason McTavish and the Anaheim Ducks has finally ended. The two sides agreed on a six-year, $42 million contract. What’s with these kids today and 6 7?

• It wasn’t all good news for the Ducks on Saturday, as the team announced forward Jansen Harkins will miss about eight weeks with an upper-body injury. The defensive-minded forward played 62 games for Anaheim last season.

• During last night’s game, the Blues announced a three-year contract extension for defenseman Cam Fowler. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the deal is worth $6.1 million AAV. That’s a pretty big commitment to a 33-year-old blueliner.

• The Blackhawks won’t see star forward Kirill Kaprizov tonight. According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, he is dealing with an eye infection, and the hope is that he won’t miss a lot of time.

• Former Blackhawks goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made his final appearance with the Pittsburgh Penguins last night. He stopped all eight shots he faced to finish off a 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. He got his send-off by being named the First Star of the night. Fleury has officially retired yet, so don’t be surprised if some NHL general managers come calling at some point.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Sept. 28: Syd Howe, Don Edwards, Bob Miller, Steve Kasper, Grant Fuhr, Brian Rafalski, Dustin Penner, and Tom Sestito.