Morning Chirps: Pridham rolls into Memorial Cup final, Avalanche's collapse complete

And then there were three….

We got our first Stanley Cup finalist last night, and it wasn’t the one many of us picked. Meanwhile, one of the Chicago Blackhawks prospects keeps lighting it up at Canada’s top junior tournament.

Blackhawks Chirps

• We still don’t know what the future holds for Ilya Mikheyev. It sounds like a 50/50 shot he re-signs with the Blackhawks. If he does decide to hit free agency, John Bloomer gave us three options for who could replace him in the lineup.

• Tuesday was the final day of preliminary-round action at the IIHF World Championship. Team USA needed to beat Austria to advance to the quarterfinals, and they came through with a 4-1 win. Oliver Moore skated on the top line with Matthew Tkachuk and Matt Coronato. He had one shot on goal in 11:48 of ice time. Sam Lafferty was the 13th forward and posted a shot on goal in his 8:27 of ice time. Wyatt Kaiser was a healthy scratch. Connor Clifton, Ryan Ufko, Paul Cotter, and Tkachuk scored, while Devin Cooley made 24 saves.

• Anton Frondell returned for Sweden after banging up his left hand over the weekend. He scored the first goal of the game from a tough angle. Ivar Stenberg made a beautiful move to score the game-winning goal midway through the second period as Sweden beat Czechia 4-2.

• The quarterfinals begin on Thursday with two games at 9:20 am CT and another pair at 1:20 pm CT. The early games feature Canada (7-0-0) vs Team USA (3-1-3) and Finland (6-1-0) vs Czechia (4-1-2). The late games are Switzerland (7-0-0) vs Sweden (4-0-3) and Norway (5-1-1) vs Latvia (4-3-0).

• The Kitchener Rangers have clinched a spot in Sunday’s Memorial Cup Championship Final after beating the Chicoutimi Saguenéens 3-12. Jack Pridham scored the game-winning goal and added an assist to give him four goals and five points in three games.

• On this date in 1978, the Blackhawks acquired goaltender Murray Bannerman from the Vancouver Canucks to complete the trade from the previous November for Jim Pappin. Bannerman went 116-125-33 with a 3.84 goals-against average and eight shutouts over the next seven seasons in Chicago.

• In 1995, the Blackhawks advanced to the Western Conference Final by beating Canucks 4-3 in overtime. Nearly all the scoring occurred in the second period, with Vancouver scoring three times, and Murray Craven and Gerald Diduck lighting the lamp for the Blackhawks. Jeremy Roenick tied the game in the third period with his first goal of the playoffs. Just over five minutes into the extra time, Chris Chelios became the first defenseman to score overtime goals in back-to-back playoff games to complete the four-game sweep of the Canucks.

• In 2009, the Blackhawks' playoff run ended with a 2-1 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final. Patrick Kane tied the game with about seven minutes left to play before Darren Helm clinched the series in overtime. The Red Wings went on to lose the Stanley Cup Final to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marian Hossa has gone on record saying this series went a long way in him signing with the Blackhawks the following July.

• Four years later, the Blackhawks kept their season alive with a 4-3 victory over the Red Wings in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals. Hossa scored an early power-play goal before Detroit took a 2-1 lead into the third period. Michael Handzus tied the game in the opening minute of the third period before Bryan Bickell scored less than five minutes later. Michael Frolik scored the game-winning goal on a penalty shot. The Red Wings drew to within a goal in the final minute of play, but it was too little, too late.

• In 2015, the Blackhawks forced another Game 7 by beating the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final. After a scoreless first period, Brandon Saad, Hossa, and Kane all scored in less than four minutes to bust the game open. The Ducks fired back with two goals before Andrew Shaw iced the game with two goals in the final four minutes.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, May 27: Ed Vokes, Ike Hildebrand, Ed Van Impe, and Marcus Kruger.

NHL Chirps

• The Vegas Golden Knights are in the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in their nine-year history. They completed their shocking four-game sweep of the Colorado Avalanche with a 2-1 win last night. Captain Mark Stone scored in the first period, before Cole Smith added another goal late in the third period. Gabriel Landeskog scored with 2:03 left in the third period, but they were unable to get the equalizer. The Golden Knights will await the winner of the Eastern Conference Final between the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens. Meanwhile, the Avalanche became only the fifth Presidents’ Trophy winner to be swept out of the playoffs. John Tortorella is responsible for two of those.

• Evgeni Malkin has at least one more season left in him. The future Hall of Famer signed a one-year, $5.5 million contract extension with the Penguins. Chris Johnston reports that Malkin could make another $2.5 million in bonuses and has a full no-move clause.

• According to Pierre Lebrun, Peter Laviolette has interviewed with the Los Angeles Kings for their head coaching job. I’d imagine the Kings won’t be the only team that he speaks to, with the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs coming to mind.

• Lebrun also reported that no one has reached out to the New York Islanders for permission to speak with Patrick Roy.

• Michael Russo says the Minnesota Wild might be forced to choose between Nico Sturm and Michael McCarron. The Wild gave up a second-round pick to acquire McCarron at the deadline, but if they re-sign him, they would likely have to trade Sturm, who has one-year left on his contract with a $2 million cap hit.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, May 27: Ray Sheppard, Richard Park, Nic Down, Chris Wanger, and Jakub Dobes.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow