Morning Chirps: IceHogs get huge win, Team USA pulls away after rough start

The Rockford IceHogs are starting to build momentum at the right time as they look to make a push into the playoffs. Meanwhile, in Milan, the men’s hockey tournament wraps up the preliminary round today, and the semifinals are set for the women.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Heading into last Saturday’s game, the IceHogs trailed the Milwaukee Admirals by six points for the final postseason spot in the Central Division. After beating them last week and again last night, they are just two points behind the Admirals with another game later today. The prospects led the way in a 6-2 victory at the BMO Center. Nick Lardis had a goal and an assist. Aidan Thompson and Gavin Hayes also scored, Ethan Del Mastro recorded an assist, while Taige Harding was a helper shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick. His goal was the first of his professional career. Drew Commesso made 20 saves to earn his second straight win. Veteran Dominic Toninato had a big night with a goal and four points.

• Marek Vanacker continued his big weekend with his Ontario Hockey League-leading 38th goal of the season. He also picked up an assist on Caleb Malhotra’s power-play goal as the Brantford Bulldogs doubled up the Guelph Storm 4-2.

• Sacha Boisvert picked up his 13th assist and 16th point of the season to help Boston U beat New Hampshire 5-3.

• Providence College scored four unanswered goals in the third period to beat Northeastern 4-1. Julius Sumpf had the primary assist on the game-winning goal. The Blackhawks’ fourth-round pick last summer has a goal and eight points in his last eight games.

• On this date in 1945, the game between the Blackhawks and New York Rangers at Chicago Stadium was delayed until 10:50 om because the Rangers’ train from Detroit was two hours late. The visitors cruised to a 6-2 win in a penalty-free game.

• In 1953, Gordie Howe scored two goals against the Blackhawks to become the youngest player in NHL history to score 200 career goals.

• Two years later, Terry Sawchuk also made history against the Blackhawks. The legendary netminder became the first in NHL history to win at least 30 games in five straight seasons by leading the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-2 victory.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Feb. 15: Tony McKegney and Martin Gendron.

NHL & Olympic Chirps

• Sweden picked up a big win to close out their preliminary round, beating Slovakia 5-3. Vancouver Canucks forward scored back-to-back goals for the Swedes, including the game-winner. Lucas Raymond of the Red Wings led the way with a goal and three points. Joel Eriksson Ek and Adrian Kempe were the first two goal scorers for Sweden. Juraj Slafkovsky continues to roll in Milan. He had a goal and an assist in the losing effort.

• Finland beat up on Italy 11-0 and set an Olympic record 62 shots on goal. They did this without Anton Lundell and Oliver Kapanne, who missed the game due to illness. The Fins got two goals from Sebastian Aho, Mikael Granlund, Kaapo Kakko, and Joel Kiviranta. Teuvo Teravainen picked up his first point of the tournament with the primary assist on Artturi Lehkonen’s third-period goal. Finland, Slovakia, and Sweden all finished the preliminary round with six points. Slovakia wins Group B on tiebreakers and will get a bye into the quarterfinals. Finland is in the running for getting the “wild card” bye, as goal differential is a tiebreaker.

• Lativa pulled off a big upset by taking down Germany 4-3 for their first win at the Olympics since 2014. Lukas Reichel scored the opening goal of the game, with the setup coming from former Blackhawk Dominik Kahun. Pittsburgh Penguins netminder Arturs Silovs made 26 saves to earn the win.

• In the final game of the day, Team USA overcame a sluggish start to beat Denmark 6-3. The Danes took a 2-1 lead into the second period after scoring on Jeremy Swayman from center ice. The Americans got goals from six different players: Matt Boldy, Brady Tkachuk, Jack Eichel, Noah Hanafin, Jake Guentzel, and Jack Hughes. Eichel was the only player with multiple points as he recorded an assist, as well. The U.S. can win Group C outright with a win over Germany later today.

• The women’s semifinals are set for Monday. The United States will play Sweden at 9:40 am CT. Canada will faceoff against Switzerland at 2:10 pm CT. Marie-Philip Poulin returned to the Canadian lineup and scored a goal in their 5-1 quarterfinal win over Germany. The winners will play for the gold medal on Thursday at 12:10 pm CT. The losers play at 7:40 am CT for the bronze medal.

• According to Frank Seravalli, the Edmonton Oilers won’t be looking to add a defenseman at the trade deadline. He says the front office is comfortable with letting the players on their roster grow into the roles. This takes them out of the running for either Connor Murphy or Matt Grzelcyk. That is, unless something happens in the nine days between the NHL’s return and the deadline to change their mind.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Feb 15: Mel Hill, Brent Peterson, Brian Propp, Craig Simpson, Tim Cheveldae, Jaromir Jagr, Sebastien Bordeleau, Serge Aubin, Ronald Petrovicky, Adam Mair, Dennis Cholowski, Simon Nemec, Isaiah George, Danil But, and Zayne Parekh.