Morning Chirps: Artyom Levshunov Ejected, Frank Pellico Honored

The Chicago Blackhawks dropped their third straight game, while the Rockford IceHogs wrapped their weekend with their second consecutive loss. It wasn’t all bad, as some top prospects in the amateur ranks continued their big seasons. Let’s kick off our week with some Chirps!

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks were overwhelmed by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Lukas Reichel found himself stapled to the bench.
• Organist Frank Pellico tickled the ivories at the United Center for the final time Sunday night after 33 years. The Blackhawks put together this fantastic tribute for him. Well done!

• Nick Lardis had his 17-game goal streak snapped on Saturday, but that didn’t slow him down on Sunday. The Blackhawks’ 2023 third-round pick racked up his seventh hat trick of the season and added an assist for his 29^th multi-point game. He now holds the Brantford Bulldog’s single-season scoring record with 103 points and has seven more games to add to it. He’ll finish with 74 goals and 121 points if he keeps his scoring pace.

• Jack Pridham scored his 20^th goal of the season and added an assist in the Kitchener Rangers’ 5-4 overtime loss to the London Knights. He has 42 points in 39 OHL games since joining the Rangers in mid-November.

• On this date in 1968, Stan Mikita became the third player in Blackhawks history to score 250 career goals when he found the back of the net in a 3-3 tie with the Los Angeles Kings.
• Four years later, Eric Nesterenko became the second player to play in 1,000 games for the Blackhawks and recorded an assist in a 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
• On Feb. 24, 1988, Denis Savard played in his 600^th game and scored a shorthanded goal in a 6-4 win over the Edmonton Oilers. It was his seventh shorthanded goal of the season, breaking the team record set by Nesterenko during the 1964-65 season.

IceHogs Chirps

• The IceHogs dropped to 3-6-1 against the Chicago Wolves this season after Sunday’s 4-2 loss. Rockford got goals from Gerry Mayhew and Ryan Gagnier 23 seconds about in the third period. Dmitry Kuzmin, Paul Ludwinski, and Louis Crevier recorded assists. Bradley Nadeau scored the first two Chicago goals. The Carolina Hurricanes’ 2023 first-round pick has five goals in his last three games against Rockford.
• Colton Dach played for the first time since suffering a hip flexor strain on Feb. 8. He had two shots on goal in his return.
• Artyom Levshunov will likely miss a handful of games after his actions in the first period. The officials handed out a five-minute major and game misconduct for an intentional cross-check to the face of Wolves defenseman Domenick Fensore.

• The IceHogs are on the road next weekend with games at the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday and Saturday.

NHL Chirps

• One of the Anaheim Ducks’ biggest possible trade chips is back on the injury list. Goaltender John Gibson suffered an upper-body injury during Saturday’s overtime win over the Boston Bruins. There hasn’t been any further update on the extent of the injury, but this isn’t good news 11 days ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
• The Bruins are starting to look like they will be sellers at the trade deadline. Charlie McAvoy’s injury at the 4 Nations Face-Off is difficult to overcome. Now, general manager Don Sweeney revealed that Hampus Lindholm won’t be coming back this season to help. He’s been out since mid-November after breaking his left kneecap blocking a shot.
• Alex Ovechkin scored his 33^rd career hat trick on Sunday, leading the Washington Capitals to a 7-3 win over the Oilers. He is now 13 goals away from becoming the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer. If he stays on his current scoring pace, he will break Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 career goals on April 4 versus……the Blackhawks.
• Ondrej Palat’s opening goal of the New Jersey Devils’ 5-0 shutout of the Nashville Predators provided a cool moment. With Dougie Hamilton recording an assist, both players picked up their 500^th career point on the play. This was only the second time two players joined the 500-point club in the same game, and the first time, it happened on the same goal.