Morning Chirps: Kantserov’s Season Ends, Ovechkin Sets New Standard

The Chicago Blackhawks are off today as they travel to Pittsburgh for a rematch against the Penguins on Tuesday. They will play the Boston Bruins on Thursday before their final home game of the season against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks used their speed on Sunday to close out a third-period lead with the help of two guys who have finally finished their chances.
• Dan Kingerski had the view from the visitors’ locker room over at Pittsburgh Hockey Now.
• The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus had a nice write-up on the strides Kevin Korchinski has made in his second professional season.
• Roman Kantserov’s KHL season came to an end over the weekend, as Metallurg Magnitogorsk was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs after winning the championship last year. He had two assists in the six-game series loss to Avangard Omsk. The Blackhawks’ second-round pick in 2023 had 13 goals and 38 points in 47 regular season games. Kantserov is under contract for one more season.
• Meanwhile, Ilya Safonov and Ak Bars Kazan will play a seventh and final game against Avtomobilist to see who advances to the second round. Safonov has a goal and an assist in the first six games of the series. He had a down regular season with seven goals and 22 points in 51 games. Safonov’s KHL contract expires after the season and could sign with the Blackhawks this summer if there is mutual interest.
• On this date in 2002, Brian Sutter became the 15^th head coach in NHL history to win 400 games as the Blackhawks beat the Calgary Flames 3-2.

NHL Chirps

• Of course, the biggest news of the day was Alex Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record for most career goals. He scored his historic 895^th goal from “his office” in the left faceoff circle while on a power play. Did you expect anything less?

• As someone who loves the wackiness of sports stats, the fact that Ovechkin scored his 895 goals in 1,487 games—the exact number of games Gretzky scored his 894—blows my mind. Another fun fact pointed out by Mike Kelly of the NHL Network is that the Capitals won the draft lottery to select Ovechkin first overall on April 6, 2004, and he became the NHL’s all-time leader in goals exactly 21 years later. The NHL released a cool video featuring some all-time greats from the worlds of sports and entertainment congratulating Ovechkin.

• The Philadelphia Flyers will be on the market for a new head coach this summer, and William James of Philly Hockey Now lists five likely candidates for the job.
• The Detroit Red Wings defeated a shorthanded Florida Panthers team on Sunday to keep their postseason hopes alive as they head into a crucial game against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.