Morning Chirps: Blackhawks Doing Damage at World Championships, Rantanen Continues Tear

The Rockford IceHogs’ season ended in heartbreaking fashion last night. Meanwhile, the members of the Chicago Blackhawks playing in Europe are off to a fast start. Finally, we’ll catch you up on another eventful night in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Here are your Monday Morning Chirps!

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks have five players participating in the IIHF World Championship, which got underway on Friday. After an assist on Friday, Frank Nazar had two goals and an assist in Team USA’s 6-0 win over Hungary on Sunday and was named the Player of the Game. Alec Vlasic picked up his two points of the tournament with a pair of helpers.

• Nazar was the third Blackhawk to get Player of the Game honors already in the tournament. Lukas Reichel earned the honors for two assists in Germany’s 6-1 win over Hungary on Saturday. He followed that up with a goal in Sunday’s 4-1 victory against Kazakhstan.

• After being named the Player of the Game for Finland’s opening win on Friday, Teuvo Teravainen had a goal and an assist in Sunday’s 4-3 overtime thriller against France.
• On this date in 1985, the Blackhawks beat the Edmonton Oilers 8-6 in Game 4 of the Campbell Conference Final. In a wild first period, the teams combined for eight goals and 60 penalty minutes. Fifteen different Blackhawks found the scoresheet, including Eddie Olczyk, who became the youngest player in the expansion era to score a postseason shorthanded goal.
• Five years later, the Oilers eliminated the Blackhawks with an 8-4 win in Game 6 of the Campbell Conference Final. Jeremy Roenick, Adam Creighton, Steve Thomas, and Trent Yawney scored in the losing effort.
• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, May 12: Bob Goldham, Dollard St. Laurent, Dave Christain, Warren Rychel, David Koci, Viktor Tikhonov, and Antti Raanta.

IceHogs Chirps

• A week ago, the IceHogs had everything going their way. They were up 2-0 in their best-of-five series against the Milwaukee Admirals, with the next two games on home ice. Now, they wonder where it all went wrong after losing three straight to the AHL Central Division champions. After the disappointing overtime loss, interim head coach Mark Eaton admitted there are plenty of positives to take from this postseason run.

NHL Chirps

• Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin has no closed the door on re-signing their top free agent. According to Patrick Johnson of The Province, Allvin told season ticket holders that he was “going to see if there’s a chance to keep Brock Boeser. However, the damage might already be done. As we’ve learned in Chicago, there has to be interest from both sides to get a deal done. Boeser would undoubtedly be a target for the Blackhawks if he hits the open market on July 1.
• Former Blackhawks defenseman Filip Roos has signed a two-year contract with Farjestad in his native Sweden.
• Calvin Pickard will miss his second straight game for the Oilers tomorrow night. That means Stuart Skinner will make another start after the horrible sequence to end Game 3. According to Tom Gazzola, former Blackhawks goaltender Colin Delia has been recalled from the AHL to join the team in Edmonton.
• Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He left Game 3 early in the first period and never returned after a collision in the neutral zone with Corey Perry.
• Mikko Rantanen continued to be a one-man wrecking crew as he picked up another three points on Sunday. The Dallas Stars took a 2-1 series lead with their 5-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Rantanen’s assist on the Stars’ opening goal made it 13 straight goals he factored in. That streak ended with the second goal, but he had the primary assist on the game-winning goal and added an insurance tally 49 seconds later. He has nine goals and 18 points in 10 postseason games. This game was not without controversy, as Alexander Petrovic’s game-winning upheld despite a distinct kicking motion.

• The Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0 to even their series at 2-2. Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett lit the lamp for the reigning champs. Sergei Bobrovsky, who’s struggled in the first three games of the series, made 22 saves for the shutout. Joseph Woll did his best to keep the Maple Leafs in the game with 35 saves of his own.

• There are two Game 3s on the schedule tonight: the Carolina Hurricanes host the Washington Capitals (6 p.m. CT) and the Oilers and Golden Knights play in Edmonton later (8:30 p.m. CT).