Morning Chirps: Colton Dach Set to Return, Nick Lardis Update

A pair of Chicago Blackhawks will play for Team USA, the Rockford IceHogs get another weapon, and we get an update on an injured top prospect. Plus, we’ll catch you up on a busy night in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Let’s get to chirping.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Defenseman Alex Vlasic and forward Frank Nazar will play for Team USA at the IIHF World Championship. The tournament will take place in Denmark and Sweden from May 9-25, with San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky at the helm. Vlasic played in last year’s tournament and had two assists in eight games.

• The Blackhawks reassigned forward Colton Dach to the IceHogs yesterday, likely meaning he is ready to return from an elbow injury suffered on March 20. The IceHogs can close out their best-of-three First Round series with a victory over the Chicago Wolves tonight.
• The Athletic’s Scott Powers spoke to Blackhawks prospect Nick Lardis, who we last saw leaving the ice with a leg injury. While he didn’t give specifics, Lardis revealed that the injury was not as severe as it looked.
• Sticking in the OHL, Jack Pridham and the Kitchener Rangers will open the Western Conference Finals against the London Knights. The Rangers came back from being down 3-0 to beat the Windsor Spitfires in seven games. Pridham has six goals and 10 points in 12 postseason games.

NHL Chirps

• Collen Flynn of Colorado Hockey Now gives her take on the Avalanche’s biggest issues against the Dallas Stars and how they can fix them.
• The New York Islanders are looking for a new general manager, and Russ Macias of NYI Hockey Now evaluates some potential candidates.
• The Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 in Game 2 of their opening-round series. The defending Stanley Cup champs are in the driver’s seat with a 2-0 series lead heading to home ice. Defenseman Nate Schmidt has been the surprise star with three goals in the first two games of the series, including the game-winner last night.

• Brandon Hagel will have a phone hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety for his hit on Aleksander Barkov. The Panthers’ captain did not return after the hit, and head coach Paul Maurice did not have an update after the game.

• The Toronto Maple Leafs took a 3-0 series lead on the Ottawa Senators with their second straight 3-2 overtime win. The overtime goals haven’t come from the superstars like Auston Matthews or Mitch Marner. After Max Domi won Game 2, defenseman Simon Benoit scored the game-winner last night.

• Not many people picked the Minnesota Wild, but they have a 2-1 series lead after beating the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2. The Wild are being led by forwards Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov and goaltender Filip Gustavsson. Boldy and Kaprizov have four goals each through the first three games of the series.

• Pavel Buchnevich netted his first career postseason hat trick to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 7-2 Game 3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Buchnevich scored twice in the opening 3:11 of the game to set the tone early. He completed the hat trick less than a minute after the Jets cut the lead to 3-1 in the third period. Winnipeg still leads the series 2-1.