Chicago Blackhawks hoping to avoid another slow start
One day after Andrew Shaw said the first period of the first playoff game is always so tough because of how amped up everyone is, Patrick Kane explained how he felt after the Blackhawks fell behind 3-0 in Nashville in their opening-round series last year.
"I remember just kind of sitting there; I kind of felt like a jinx, to be honest with you," said a smiling Kane, who had missed the last quarter of the regular season with a broken left clavicle. "I was coming back from those 21 games and that was my first period, we were down 3-0.
"I knew I had to pick it up myself."
As fans remember, the Hawks stormed back with 3 goals in the second period and prevailed when Duncan Keith scored in double overtime.
Those first 20 minutes were no way to start the Stanley Cup playoffs, but a veteran team like the Hawks understood there was a lot of hockey left to be played.
"It's a different group this year but if those situations arise again we know what to look back on and say we've done this once or twice before," Kane said, "It's good to have those experiences."
Not that coach Joel Quenneville wants to see his squad forced to come back too often.
"On the road, you want to make sure you're ready to start on time any playoff game," Quenneville said. "First periods are crucial to the outcome. We were lucky in a couple of games getting behind and getting back in and finding a way to win them. But don't expect to do that in this series."
Rundblad returns:
It's been a crazy season for defenseman David Rundblad. He has played for three teams, the Hawks, Rockford IceHogs and Zurich in the Swiss-A league, and is now back in Chicago after being recalled from Rockford on Monday.
His last Hawks game was Dec. 13, a 4-0 win over Vancouver at the United Center.
The Hawks now have nine defensemen on the roster.
"I commend him. I thought he looked really good in practice today," coach Joel Quenneville said. "They've been playing him 25 minutes in the American League. He's returned with a good attitude.
"You can never have enough defensemen; we saw that last year with how it played out in the end. We didn't have (Trevor) van Riemsdyk for a big part of that and he came out of nowhere and played in the finals. So you never know."
MASH unit:
Brandon Mashinter, who was a healthy scratch in Games 72-77, played in the last five regular-season games and is slated to start Game 1 against the Blues. He skated with Teuvo Teravainen and Tomas Fleischmann at practice Tuesday.
Coach Joel Quenneville said he likes Mashinter's size (6-4, 212) against a hard-hitting opponent like St. Louis.
"It's part of it," Quenneville said. "You've got three guys that probably all deserve to start."
Dale Weise and Richard Panik will likely sit out the opener. Panik had been skating on the top line as Marian Hossa nursed a leg injury.
Backes back:
St. Louis center David Backes returned to practice Tuesday for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury that cost him the final three games of the regular season. Backes, who had 21 goals and 24 assists, declared himself a go for Game 1.
He said it:
"You never know. Desperate times might call for desperate measures. I guess we'll see what happens."
Patrick Kane on whether or not he'll bring the mullet back during the postseason.