Morning Chirps: Frondell stays hot, Dach gets injured in Oilers win

The Chicago Blackhawks will be back on the practice ice this morning before hopping on a plane out west for their next games against the Utah Mammoth and Vegas Golden Knights. Tonight will be an intriguing one for the Blackhawks fans as Sacha Boisvert and Boston University play a must-win game in the Hockey East Tournament. The Rockford IceHogs will also be in action at the Milwaukee Admirals.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Yesterday, I was back on the CHGO Blackhawks Podcast, where Jay Zawaski and I took some time to predict what next season’s roster might look like. We also answered some mailbag questions about Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, and more. You’re going to want to check in again today at 3 pm as we’ll be joined by a very special guest.

• Anton Frondell continued his strong finish to the SHL season by scoring his third goal in the last four games. He has 18 goals and 25 points in 41 games. For a little perspective, Leo Carlsson, at the same age, had 10 goals and 25 points in 44 games. We’ll be keeping tabs on his postseason run, which starts next week, to see when he’ll make his way to Chicago.

• On this date in 1987, Denis Savard became the sixth player in team history to score 250 goals, but the Blackhawks lost 3-2 to the St. Louis Blues.

• Three years later, Savard recorded an assist in a 6-4 win over the Blues to become the 26th player in NHL history to rack up 1,000 career points.

• In 1994, the Blackhawks traded Frantisek Kucera and Jocelyn Lemieux to the Hartford Whalers for Gary Suter, Randy Cunneyworth, and a future draft pick. Suter was the prize of the trade, playing 301 games with the Blackhawks, and scoring 53 goals and 179 points. He spent much of his time in Chicago paired on the blue line with Hall of Famer Chris Chelios.

• March 11 remained a big date for Savard in 1996, as he scored two goals and recorded an assist in an 8-4 victory over the Florida Panthers. The three-point effort made him the 15th NHL player to accumulate 1,300 career points.

• In 2000, Alex Zhamnov recorded his 300th career assist as the Blackhawks beat the Panthers 5-3. Bob Propert added a goal while becoming the sixth player in NHL history to rack up 3,000 penalty minutes.

• In 2020, Patrick Kane scored two goals in a 6-2 win versus the San Jose Sharks. The following day, the NHL suspended the remainder of the season due to the COVID-10 pandemic. This game ended up being the final one at the United Center for goaltender Corey Crawford.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, March 11: Earl Robinson and Michal Handzus.

NHL Chirps

• The Panthers beat the Red Wings 4-3, which helps the Blackhawks in landing their first-round pick this season. The win puts them outside of a top 10 pick for the moment. With the loss, Detroit falls out of third place in the Atlantic Division with a three-point cushion on a wild card spot. To make matters worse, Andrew Copp left the game with a lower-body injury and did not return.

• The Mammoth must have still been reeling from Monday’s loss to the Blackhawks, as they were rolled 5-0 by the Minnesota Wild last night. Nick Foligno picked up his first point with his new team by recording the primary assist on Ryan Hartman’s late third-period goal to close out the scoring.

• The Edmonton Oilers are getting the full Colton Dach experience since acquiring him. After an assist and five hits in his first two games, he left last night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche. The play seemed rather harmless, but he was in a lot of pain and eventually left the bench without returning.

• In the same game, Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon earned a five-minute major and game misconduct for running over goaltender Connor Ingram, who also did not return to the game.

• It looked like the Carolina Hurricanes were going to lose Nikolaj Ehlers after this collision with Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson. However, he returned for the second period.

• Brayden Schenn was back in St. Louis for the first time since being traded to the New York Islanders and was given a standing ovation by the Blues faithful. He got the last laugh by recording the primary assist on the game-winning goal as the Islanders came all the way back from being down 3-0 to win 4-3 in overtime.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, March 11: Sprague Cleghorn, Bill Eznicki, Bob Plager, Tom Gorence, Ken Baumgartner, Bill Houlder, Martin Rucinsky, Tyson Nash, Nils Ekman, Lukas Krajicek, Paul Bissonnette, Conor Garland, Travis Konecny, Mark Kastelic, Justus Annunen, Noah Ostlund, and Axel Sandin Pellikka.