Morning Chirps: Wild puts Stars on the brink, Lindsay Award finalists named

Tuesday was another big night in the Stanly Cup Playoffs, as two teams fended off elimination, while another took control of their series. Meanwhile, the Chicago Blackhawks have two prospects one win away from a championship series.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Last week, Justin Lynch wrote about the positives to take away from the Blackhawks’ season, so it’s only fair that he focus on the biggest negatives, too.

• I broke down Oliver Moore’s first full professional season, as he and the Blackhawks are still trying to figure out what his exact role will be.

• Moore was one of the main topics of discussion on the latest episode of The Second Balcony with Frank Nova and myself.

• The Brantford Bulldogs are one win away from the Ontario Hockey League Finals after beating the Barrie Colts 6-1 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Championship Series. Marek Vanacker had the primary assist on Adam Benak’s game-winning goal. Top draft prospect Caleb Malhotra had another big game with a goal and three assists. He has 11 goals and 23 points in 12 playoff games. The Bulldogs get their first chance to close out this series tomorrow night.

• On this date in 1965, Elmer “Moose” Vasko and Doug scored two minutes apart in the third period to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. The victory forced a seventh and final game back in Montreal.

• In 1971, the Blackhawks beat the New York Rangers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals. Jim Pappin, Cliff Koroll, Bobby Hull, and Chico Maki provided the offense in the 4-2 win. Hull added two assists to finish the night with three points. They advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for another crack at the Canadiens.

• Two years later, defenseman Pat Stapleton set a team record by picking up an assist on all three first-period goals in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, he needed five more assists to make it a game, as the Canadiens rolled to an 8-3 win.

• In 1982, the Blackhawks evened up the Campbell Conference Finals with a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 2. Glen Sharpley and Dave Feamster scored before Denis Savard put the game out of reach with a pair of third-period goals, his ninth and 10th of the postseason.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, April 28: Reg Hamilton, Wilf Field, and Jonathan Toews.

NHL Chirps

• The Boston Bruins will live to fight another day after beating the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in overtime in Game 5. They still trail the series 3-2 as they head back home for Game 6 on Friday. Rasmus Dahlin got the home crowd fired up with a power-play goal before the game was four minutes old, but that was all they’d get to cheer for. Elias Lindholm tied the game midway through the second period, before David Pastrnak won it in overtime. Sabres forward Noah Ostlund left the game in the first period with a lower-body injury and did not return.

• The Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars 4-2 to take a 3-2 series lead. Mats Zuccarello, who hasn’t played since Game 1, got Minnesota on the board early. Michael McCarron, who would look great in a Blackhawks uniform next season, scored the eventual game-winning goal early in the third period. They return home on Thursday with a chance to advance to the second round, where the Colorado Avalanche are waiting. However, they may have to do so without one of their top defensemen, as Jonas Brodin left the American Airlines Center on crutches. The Stars need to figure out how to score at 5-on-5. They have been outscored 14-4 in the series, and haven’t scored a 5-on-5 goal in 207:53 of game action.

• The Edmonton Oilers entered last night’s game with their backs against the wall, and Connor McDavid was a game-time decision. McDavid ended up playing, and he and Leon Draisaitl carried the load in a big 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks to force a Game 6. The Oilers built a 3-0 lead in the first half of the opening period and never looked back. Draisaitl scored a pair of goals while McDavid recorded two assists. He played nearly five minutes more than he did in Game 4. Not bad for a guy who was a game-time decision.

• The Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens will play a pivotal Game 5 later tonight. Lightning captain Victor Hedman was a full participant in practice on Tuesday. Head coach Jon Cooper is still uncertain whether Hedman will return in the first round. He’s been out of action since March 19 after taking a leave of absence from the team.

• Macklin Celebrini, Nikita Kucherov, and McDavid were named the finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award, which is given each year to the most outstanding player of the regular season, as voted on by the players.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, April 29: Serge Bernier, Doug Shedden, Bruce Driver, Jim Benning, Curtis Joseph, John McIntyre, Niko Kapanen, Mathieu Biron, Dan Girardi, Brandon Dubinsky, Tristan Jarry, Kyle MacLean, and Hunter Skinner.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow