Morning Chrips: Two OHL Hat Tricks, Kaprizov Nearing a Return

The Chicago Blackhawks are back in action this evening, hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Rockford IceHogs had another crazy game with their rivals from Michigan, as a pair of prospects netted hat tricks in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. Let’s get to those fresh Sunday Morning Chirps!

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Brantford Bulldogs are onto the second round of the OHL playoffs after their 5-1 Game 5 win over the North Bay Battalion. Nick Lardis scored a hat trick, while Marak Vanacker recorded a primary assist. Lardis scored seven goals, recorded nine points, and took 40 shots on goal during the five-game series. Vanacker is averaging a point per game in the postseason, with two goals and three assists in five games. The Bulldogs await the winner of the series between the Oshawa Generals and Brampton Steelheads, which Oshawa leads 3-2.

• Speaking of hat tricks, Martin Misiak potted one to help the Erie Otters beat the Saginaw Spirt 6-3 and knock them out in five games. He recorded an assist to finish the night with four points. Misiak has seven goals and 12 points in five playoff games. The Otters will play the London Knights in the second round, who led the OHL in the regular season with 112 points.

• On this date in 1961, Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita made their Stanley Cup Final debuts. Hull scored two goals, while Mikita picked up two assists in a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
• On April 6, 1975, the Blackhawks won their 1200^th game in franchise history, and Billy Reay became just the third NHL head coach to win 500 games in a 3-0 victory against the Minnesota North Stars.
• In 2021, Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist in a 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars, giving him 50 points for the 14^th time in his career. This tied him with Hull for the second-most 50-point seasons in team history. Mikita holds the record with 18.
• Happy 26^th Birthday to Cole Guttman!

IceHogs Chirps

• After losing 8-3 to the Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday, the two rivals moved to Rockford for a wild rematch that saw the visitors win 7-5. The IceHogs got within a goal after trailing 6-3 with less than six minutes remaining, but the Griffins scored an empty-net goal to secure the win. Veteran Zach Sanford led the way with a hat trick. The IceHogs also got goals from Gavin Hayes and Jalen Luypen. Drew Commesso allowed six goals on 31 shots for his worst performance in weeks.

• Defenseman Taige Harding made his professional debut after signing an amateur tryout contract last week. He was a minus-1 and had a shot on goal.

NHL Chirps

• The New York Islanders are now at the epicenter of the hockey world as they host Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals today at 11:30 am on TNT. Ovechkin needs one goal to become the NHL’s all-time goals leader after tying Wayne Gretzky against the Blackhawks on Friday. Russ Macias of NYI Hockey Now wrote about how goaltender Ilya Sorokin now has the weight of hockey history on his shoulders. As you can imagine, the ticket prices for today’s game on Long Island have skyrocketed.
• The Blackhawks won’t be the only ones at the bottom of the standings that will be aggressive this season. According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere is willing to trade first-round picks to get his team back into contention. The Flyers have three first-round picks this year and four more in the second round.
• The Florida Panthers clinched a spot in the Stanely Cup Playoffs on Saturday, but the defending champions are waiting to get healthy. Head coach Paul Maurice said Matthew Tkachuk is “still a ways away” from returning to the lineup. The Panthers hope he’ll be ready for the start of the playoffs. Meanwhile, defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and captain Aleksander Barkov are expected to return to the lineup early next week.
• According to Micheal Russo of The Athletic, the Minnesota Wild are hoping star forward Kirill Kaprizov will return to the lineup Wednesday night against the San Jose Sharks. The Wild have lost four in a row and have dropped to the second wild card spot, so they will welcome Kaprizov back with open arms.
• Finally, Auston Matthews scored his 30^th goal in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 5-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. He became the first U.S.-born player to have nine consecutive 30-goal seasons, breaking a tie with Pat LaFontaine.