Morning Chirps: Ilya Safonov Keeps Season Alive, Ivan Demidov Not Done in Russia

The Chicago Blackhawks start their quick two-game road trip tonight at the Pittsburgh Penguins, whom they beat 3-1 at the United Center on Sunday. We’ll have a full game preview for you later this morning and a recap once the game concludes.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote about Sam Rinzel’s impressive start to his NHL career.
• With his assist on Sunday, Connor Bedard became the 11^th teenager in NHL history to have multiple 60-point seasons.

• Former NHL goaltender and broadcaster Craig Millen passed away on Monday at 67. He appeared in 604 NHL regular-season games, including 13 with the Blackhawks. He was acquired on March 5, 1990, from the Quebec Nordiques along with Hall of Fame forward Michel Goulet. He was traded to the New York Rangers before the start of the 1991-92 season. We are sending our deepest condolences to the Millen family.

• Ilya Safonov scored his second goal of the KHL playoffs as Ak Bars beat Avtomobilist 2-1 in double overtime in Game 7 of their first-round series. Their second-round opponent will not be known until later today after Game 7 between Salavat Yulaev and Sibir.

• On this date in 1961, Gordie Howe had two assists to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 2-1 win over the Blackhawks in Game 2 of the Stanely Cup Final. The two helpers gave him 61 career postseason assists, a new NHL record.
• Exactly 30 years later, Chris Chelios had a goal and three assists as the Blackhawks beat the Minnesota North Stars 6-5 in Game 3 of the Norris Division Semifinals.

NHL Chirps

• The Los Angeles Kings will likely be without one of their heavy hitters for the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Zach Dooley of NHL.com reported that forward Tanner Jeannot is now considered week-to-week. He’s been out of action since suffering an undisclosed injury against the New York Rangers on March 25.
• Montreal Canadiens fans hoping to see Ivan Demidov play for their team this season are disappointed. Even though his season with SKA St. Petersburg ended, he still has some games to play in Russia before his contract runs out. According to Marco D’Amico of RG, Demidov is expected to play in both the VHL and MHL playoffs.
• According to Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now, the Avalanche are hoping to get a slew of injured players back before the postseason, including forwards Martin Necas and Jonathan Drouin and defensemen Samuel Girard and Josh Manson.
• Nikita Kucherov scored a goal and recorded two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat Rangers 5-1. With the two helpers, he became only the fourth player in NHL history to have three straight 80-assist seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky, Paul Coffey, and Bobby Orr. That’s pretty good company.