Morning Chirps: Blackhawks sign goaltender, Teravainen wins bronze medal

As this post publishes, we’ll be settling in for today’s huge gold medal game between the United States and Canada. Meanwhile, the Chicago Blackhawks signed a goaltender to help out in Rockford, while the IceHogs fell short on Saturday night.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks added another goaltender to the mix on Saturday by signing Olivier Rodrigue to a one-year, two-way contract through the remainder of the season. The 25-year-old netminder was a second-round draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 2018. He’s appeared in two career NHL games, as well as 131 AHL games, where he has a 2.92 goals-against average (GAA) and .897 save percentage (SV%). He was signed to play in the KHL this season but had his contract terminated following an injury. The biggest reason for this signing is that Rockford IceHogs goaltender Stanislav Berezhnoy will miss the next 18 games serving his suspension. This gives them a solid backup for Drew Commesso, as they are fighting for their postseason lives.

• Speaking of the IceHogs, they lost 5-4 to the San Diego Gulls in a wild affair at the BMO Center. They couldn’t hold leads of 3-1 and 4-3 as Gulls forward Sasha Pastujov and defensemen Stian Solberg scored two goals apiece. Gavin Hayes was the IceHogs’ offensive hero with the first hat trick of his professional career. Defenseman Jake Furlong found the back of the net for the second straight game and extended his point streak to three games. These two will meet again later this afternoon at 4 pm.

• John Mustard scored for the second straight night to help Providence College beat the University of Vermont 5-3. He has 14 goals and 24 points in 31 games for the seventh-ranked Friars.

• Jack Pridham scored a power-play goal and recorded the primary assist on the game-winning goal as the Kitchener Rangers beat the Erie Otters 3-1. He has 36 goals on the season and is three behind fellow Blackhawks prospect Marek Vanacker for the OHL lead. Vanacker was held off the scoresheet in the Brantford Bulldogs’ 4-2 win over the Oshawa Generals.

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  On this date in 2019, Patrick Kane scored a goal during the Blackhawks’ 5-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, extending his point streak to 20 games. He became the seventh player in NHL history to have a point streak of at least 20 games. Wayne Gretzky is the all-time leader with seven scoring streaks of at least 20 games.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, Feb. 22: Des Smith, Sid Abel, Joe Reekie, Ty Jones, and Mark McNeill.

NHL & Olympic Chirps

• Teuvo Teravainen will return to Chicago with a bronze medal around his neck after Finland beat Slovakia 6-1. He had one assist in seven tournament games. The biggest news to come out of this game was that Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen missed the game with a lower-body injury. According to Elliotte Freidman, he suffered the injury during the third period of Friday’s semifinal against Canada. He said it’s not season-ending, and he will be evaluated when he returns to Dallas.

• The Florida Panthers will receive reinforcements soon after play resumes. Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and Tomas Nosek both returned to practice on Saturday wearing non-contact jerseys. Kulikov has been out since the second game of the season, while Nosek has yet to play this year.

• The Boston Bruins expect Pavel Zacha back in their lineup after the Olympic break. He was a full participant in practice, as he’s recovering from a concussion that caused him to miss his trip to Milan.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Feb. 22: Eddie Gerard, Lorne Henning, Tim Young, Pat LaFontaine, Brent Severyn, Jason Marshall, Aaron Gavey, Nicolas Deslauriers, William Lagesson, and Ilya Samsonov.