Blackhawks Daily: Rockford Locks In #3 Seed; Vancouver Wins

The Chicago Blackhawks were the second-worst team in the National Hockey League this season. However, their AHL affiliate in the Rockford Ice Hogs was far from being bad. They are going to be a postseason team in the Calder Cup Playoffs this season.

On Sunday night, Rockford defeated the Chicago Wolves at Allstate Arena which gave themselves a chance at second place in the division. However, they didn’t get the help they needed from the Milwaukee Admirals so they had to settle for the third seed.

Now, they are the lower seed in their upcoming five-game series against the Grand Rapids Griffins. It should be a great series that gives a few notable Blackhawks prospects some important hockey experience at a very high level.

The National Hockey League playoffs are well underway already and every home team has won the first six games played. That ended with the nightcap on Sunday as the Vancouver Canucks took down the Nashville Predators.

Hawks fans would love to see the Predators go down even if it means seeing the Canucks advance. Vancouver was the Pacific Division champions but getting the Predators in the first round is not a fun matchup by any means. Both of these teams are very good.

The Predators took the lead early when Jason Zucker’s seeing-eye shot beat Thatcher Demko to make it 1-0. That score held through the end of the first.

Following that, in the second period, Elias Lindholm gave Vancouver their first goal of the playoffs to tie the game. That was before Ryan O’Reilly scored a beautiful goal after some great passing on the Nashville power play. Once again, Nashville went into the intermission with a one-goal lead.

Once the third-period starter, Vancouver started to do everything that made them a dominant team in 2023-24. Their captain, Quinn Hughes, came up clutch with a big goal to get the game tied again.

12 seconds later, Dakota Joshua took advantage of the momentum and gave his Canucks a 3-2 lead. At the end of the third, Joshua scored his second of the game to make it 4-2 Vancouver which held as the final score.

This was a great game but the Canucks found a way to come back and win in the third. The Predators are going to have to find a way to hold onto a lead if they are going to come back in this series.

Blackhawks In Case You Missed It

• Former Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Gustav Forsling is making a big impact on his Florida Panthers team in the playoffs.
• Tyler Johnson‘s tenure with the Chicago Blackhawks didn’t go the way he wanted. He is probably going to move on this summer.
• Kyle Davidson‘s upcoming off-season is going to be the biggest of his tenure with the Chicago Blackhawks. It is time to take a few steps forward.
• Connor Bedard and Philipp Kurashev have both confirmed their participation in the IIHF World Championships this spring.

Hockey Now Playoff Focus

• Boston Hockey Now: The Boston Bruins took down the Toronto Maple Leafs once again. The Bruins seem to own the Maple Leafs these days.
• Colorado Hockey Now: Goaltending (or lack of) is going to make or break the Colorado Avalanche in their series against the Winnipeg Jets.
• Vegas Hockey Now: The Vegas Golden Knights use the LTIR to their advantage and it works well for them. They aren’t breaking any rules.
• Florida Hockey Now: The Florida Panthers took the Tampa Bay Lightning down 3-2 in what was a very physical battle between two big-time rivals.