Morning Chirps: Frondell not going to Worlds...yet, Murphy gets first playoff goal

The Western Conference side of last night’s Stanley Cup Playoffs gave us a lot of drama. Meanwhile, a top Chicago Blackhawks prospect stays undefeated in the postseason, while another is back on the international stage.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Brandon Hagel is the exact type of player this Blackhawks roster needs, so should they have traded him away in the first place? I examined where this team would be had they kept him in 2022, and it might not be where you think.

• For the second year in a row, Connor Bedard had the highest-selling jersey in the NHL. Our newest contributor, Richard Jelinek, has all the details for you.

• There was some confusion about Anton Frondell playing at the IIHF World Championships as Sweden released a roster. Even the Blackhawks retweeted it as he had made the team for next month's international tournament. However, he is on the roster for the Fortuna Hockey Games, which will serve as a tryout for the final spots on the World Championships roster. I think it’s a pretty safe bet that Frondell ultimately makes Team Sweden.

• The Brantford Bulldogs improved to 9-0 in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs as they beat the Barrie Colts 4-3 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Championship Series. Marek Vanacker recorded an assist in the victory, giving him six goals and 15 points in the postseason. Caleb Malhotra, who is rising up a lot of draft boards, scored a pair of goals.

• Nick Lardis traveled back to Brantford to cheer on his former teammates last night.

• On this date in 1994, Tony Amonte scored four goals to lead the Blackhawks to a 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. He became only the second player in team history with a four-goal game, joining Denis Savard, who also did it against the Maple Leafs in 1986.

• In 1996, Joe Murphy scored at 10:02 of the third overtime to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames, completing a sweep of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Murphy had the primary assist on Jeremy Roenick’s game-tying goal with nine seconds left in regulation. Ed Belfour made 55 saves in the marathon victory.

• In 2015, Patrick Kane scored his second goal of the night in overtime to beat the St. Louis Blues 4-3, evening the Western Conference Finals 2-2. Kane had an assist on Andrew Shaw’s first-period power-play goal to finish with three points. Jonathan Toews recorded two helpers on the night.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, April 23: Tony Esposito, Alain Chevrier, Greg Smyth, Patrick Poulin, Vladimir Chebaturkin, and Pat Maroon.

NHL Chirps

• The Pittsburgh Penguins are proving to be the biggest frauds of the 2025-26 season. The Philadelphia Flyers soundly beat them 5-2 to take a 3-0 stranglehold on their series. Former Blackhawks defenseman Nick Seeler scored the game-winning goal when he gave the Flyers a 3-1 lead in the second period. Trevor Zegras and Noah Cates each had a goal and an assist. The Flyers can close out the series and advance into the second round on Saturday night.

• The Dallas Stars proved that their 6-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 was a fluke. They grinded out a 4-3 double overtime victory to take a 2-1 series lead. The story of the game is the Wild's failure on the power play, where they went 0-for-5 in the third period and overtime. Meanwhile, the Stars scored the game-tying and game-winning goals on the man advantage. Wyatt Johnson, who led the lead with 27 power-plays goals in the regular season, ended the game in the second overtime.

• The Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers played another fun, back-and-forth game. The Ducks built leads of 3-1 and 4-2, but the Oilers mounted a comeback. Connor Murphy scored his first career playoff goal in the second period. Jason Dickinson, who scored in Game 1, missed last night's game with an undisclosed injury. His replacement, Josh Samanski, tied the game late in the third period with his first career postseason goal. But the Ducks got the game-winning goal from Cutter Gauthier, his second tally of the night, with less than five minutes to play. Ryan Poehling, who scored a shorthanded goal earlier in the night, iced the game with an empty net goal. The series will head to Anaheim tied 1-1 with Connor McDavid still looking for his first point.

• Trevor Lewis announced his retirement on Wednesday. The veteran of 17 seasons played 1,034 games with the Los Angeles Kings, Winnipeg Jets, and Calgary Flames. He scored 104 goals and 237 points, and won two Stanley Cups with the Kings in 2012 and 2014.

• According to John Shannon, the Vancouver Canucks have been granted permission from the Toronto Maple Leafs to speak to special advisor Shane Doan. The interview is not necessarily for the general manager job. He has some GM experience at the international level, but not in the NHL or AHL yet.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, April 23: Gregg Sheppard, Reggie Leach, Wayne Merrick, Ryan Walter, Claude Julien, Derek Armstrong, Willie Mitchell, and Sheldon Dries.

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