Morning Chirps: Nestrasil's big postseason debut, Frondell makes history

The Chicago Blackhawks are flying back from Las Vegas today after a rough outing last night. They will be back to practice tomorrow to prepare for a tough week ahead with a home-and-home series against the Minnesota Wild before hosting the Colorado Avalanche. Start your Sunday with a fresh batch of Morning Chirps!

Blackhawks Chirps

• I stayed up and watched the entire loss to the Vegas Golden Knights last night, so you didn’t have to. Check out my postgame thoughts on the 4-0 defeat.

• As Justin Lynch wrote yesterday, Louis Crevier has been a pleasant surprise for the Blackhawks, as not many predicted he’d spend the whole season on the top defensive pairing.

• Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun caught up with Jonathan Toews and got his thoughts on the recent passing of his friend and mentor, Troy Murray.

• Before the Rockford IceHogs took to the ice last night, they learned that forward Connor Mylymok and defenseman Andrew Perrott would miss their game against the Iowa Wild. They were both suspended for one game after picking up their 10th fighting majors of the season.

• The IceHogs then beat the Wild 4-3 in overtime to win both of their games this weekend. Dominic Toninato’s second goal of the night won the game just 39 seconds into overtime. Kevin Korchinski had the primary assist on the game-winning goal. Joey Anders and Kevin Lombardi had the other goals in regulation. Defenseman Jake Furlong, who was acquired for Nolan Allan in January, continues to flourish in an expanded role. He had the primary assist on Lombardi’s game-tying goal. He has helpers in back-to-back games and two goals and five points in his 17 games since joining the team. Drew Commesso relieved Olivier Rodrigue for the start of the third period and made 18 saves in the final frame to lead the team to two big points.

• Anton Frondell wrapped up his regular season on Sunday by scoring his 20th goal of the season. He became just the fourth 18-year-old to have a 20-goal season in SHL, joining Tomas Sandstrom, Markus Naslund, and Daniel Sedin. Frondell and Djurgårdens IF will play Malmö Redhawks in a best-of-three series starting on Tuesday. Game 2 will be on Thursday, and if a third game is necessary, it will be played next Saturday.

• Sacha Boisvert’s college career likely came to an end with Boston University’s 5-3 loss to UConn on Saturday. He did not find the score sheet after being held out of the lineup on Wednesday. He is expected to sign with the Blackhawks in the next couple of days. However, his NHL debut might be delayed a little bit, as Frank Seravalli reported that he will need to apply for his visa before he can get to work.

• John Mustard had a goal and an assist, but it wasn’t enough as Providence College was upset 3-2 in overtime by Merrimack. The Friars were the Hockey East regular-season champion and are ranked fifth in the country, so they are likely to get an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament.

• Vaclav Nestrasil had a big day in his first Hockey East tournament game, with a goal and two assists as UMass beat Northeastern 4-1. They head on to the TD Garden for the Hockey East semifinals starting on Friday. They will play Merrimack, while UConn takes on Boston College.

• On this date in 1950, Hall of Fame goaltender recorded his 40th and final career shutout in the Blackhawks’ 4-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. He held the shutout record for U.S.-born netminders until Jonathan Quick earned his 41st shutout in 2016.

• In 1959, Ted Lindsay appeared in his 928th career game, breaking Maurice Richard’s NHL record for most games played. His record-breaking contest came in a 4-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he played the first 793 games of his career.

• In 1975, the Blackhawks beat the Minnesota North Stars, making Tony Esposito only the second goaltender in NHL history to have six straight 30-win seasons.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, March 15: Joe Matte and Peter White.

NHL Chirps

• The San Jose Sharks are sitting in the second Western Conference wild card spot after last night’s win over the Montreal Canadiens. However, Keifer Sherwood still had Thursday’s game on his mind. In case you missed it, Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy hit him up high in the closing seconds, causing a brawl. Sherwood called the hit to his head “dirty and unnecessary and just stupid.” He also said that he wants the NHL to do more to punish hits to the head.

• There was a very scary moment in the Sharks’ win on Saturday. On the opening shift of the game, Igor Chernyshov hit his head on the ice after being hit by Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson. He tried to get to his feet but kept falling down. He was eventually helped to the locker room and did not return.

• Speaking of scary-looking injuries, Utah Mammoth forward Logan Cooley went crashing legs-first into the goalpost for the second time this season. It looked really bad as he needed to be helped off the ice by teammates, but he returned to the game a few minutes later.

• Anze Kopitar scored two goals on Saturday to move ahead of Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne for the most points in Los Angeles Kings history with 1,308. Dionne was a much more dynamic offensive player, racking up 1,307 points in 921 games. But Kopitar’s record is a testament to his longevity. He is one of the best two-way centers of his generation, and it is only a matter of time before he joins Dionne in Toronto.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, March 15: Stew Gavin, Craig Ludwig, Paul Kruse, Stacy Roest, Darcy Tucker, David Steckel, Jannik Hansen, Chris VandeVelde, James Reimer, Mark Scheifele, Justin Danforth, Brendan Lemieux, Rasmus Kupari, Arseny Gritsyuk, and Isak Rosen.