Morning Chirps: Blackhawks get an Olympian, no three-peat for Team USA

The Chicago Blackhawks are back in action tonight as they look to extend their point streak to three games against the Washington Capitals. We’ll have a full game preview after morning skate and postgame analysis once the game ends.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks will have one representative at the Winter Olympics. Teuvo Teravainen was named to Finland’s roster. He played for his home country at last year's 4 Nations Face-Off and the World Championships.

• Team USA announced its roster, and, as expected, no Blackhawks were named. However, The Athletic named one to their B Team, which would still be a tough squad to beat.

• Anton Frondell scored 10 seconds into Sweden’s 6-2 quarterfinal win over Latvia. He added a second goal, and his fifth of the tournament, early in the second period.

• Vaclav Nestrasil did not find the scoresheet for Czechia, but they didn’t need him to do any heavy lifting as they rolled to a 6-2 win over Switzerland. Czechia will play Canada, who beat Slovakia 7-2, in Sunday’s second semifinal.

• Team USA’s dream of three straight gold medals ended in a 4-3 overtime loss to Finland. A.J. Spellacy had three shots on goal and was a plus-1 in the loss. He finished his tournament with a goal and four points in five games. Finland will play Sweden in Sunday’s first semifinal game.

• On this date in 1943, Reg Bently scored the opening goal in a 3-3 tie with the New York Rangers, with his brothers Doug and Max recording the assists. This was the first goal in NHL history with all three points going to brothers.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Jan. 3: Gord Fraser, Bobby Hull, Mike Walton, Jacques Cloutier, Steve Poapst, Dylan Olsen, and Dylan Wells.

NHL Chirps

• The Sunshine State hosted the Winter Classic for the first time last night. The Rangers spoiled the party in Miami by beating the Florida Panthers 5-1. Mike Zibanejad had a night to remember by factoring in all five goals, scoring three and assisting on the other two. He scored the first hat trick and had the first five-point night in Winter Classic history. The Rangers are now 6-0-0 in outdoor games.

• To make matters worse, the Panthers lost defenseman Seth Jones to an upper-body injury. He was hit in the left collarbone by an Alexis Lafreniere shot in the first period and did not return. The former Blackhawks defender started his day on a much higher note by being named to the United States Olympic roster.

• The Vegas Golden Knights will be in town tomorrow night, but they will not have defenseman Brayden McNabb. The veteran blueliner is expected to miss the next few weeks with an upper-body injury. The Golden Knights recalled former Blackhawks defenseman Jaycob Megna on Thursday to take McNabb’s roster spot.

• The Colorado Avalanche placed goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. They recalled netminder Trent Miner and forward Taylor Makar in a pair of corresponding movies.

• The Vancouver Canucks’ second-line center is starting to become just as cursed as being the drummer for Spinal Tap. First, their experiment with Lukas Reichel failed miserably. Then, they thought they solved their problem by acquiring Marco Rossi from the Minnesota Wild in the Quinn Hughes trade. Rossi has been a disappointment since the blockbuster trade. He has only two assists in his first eight games with the team, and has now been placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Jan. 3: Real Lemieux, Rick MacLeish, Kerry Huffman, Cory Cross, Drake Berehowsky, Todd Warriner, Mike York, Ryan Ellis, Ryan Poehling, Patrick Giles, and Thomas Bordeleau.