Ejdsell solid in debut; Chicago Blackhawks fall in shootout
From the Swedish Hockey League to the Rockford IceHogs to centering Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad on the Chicago Blackhawks.
To say it has been a crazy two weeks for Victor Ejdsell would be 100 percent accurate.
"It's a great opportunity for me," said Ejdsell before the Hawks' 4-3 shootout loss to San Jose on Monday night at the United Center. "I'm just going to try to play my game, have fun and enjoy the ride."
Ejdsell, whom the Hawks acquired on Feb. 26 as part of the Ryan Hartman trade, looked solid all night and had numerous opportunities to score. His best chance came with 2:30 left in the first period, but a point-blank attempt got deflected by a defenseman's stick.
Ejdsell played almost 17½ minutes, took 3 shots on goal and won 6 of 11 faceoffs.
"You know on the stat sheet it doesn't look so hot," coach Joel Quenneville said of Ejdsell's minus-3 rating. "But I didn't mind him at all. I thought he had a lot of nice plays, good vision, good anticipation, knew where people were around the ice.
"For a big guy he knew where to go and he was comfortable with the puck, which was good to see."
Logan Couture and Kevin Labanc scored in the shootout for San Jose as the Sharks won their eighth straight.
The Hawks' goals came from Alex DeBrincat, Connor Murphy and Patrick Sharp. Sharp's goal came with 2:22 left in regulation and just two minutes after Tomas Hertl gave San Jose a 3-2 lead. Sharp also scored the only shootout goal for the Hawks (31-36-10).
Anton Forsberg made 35 saves and was sensational in overtime. Patrick Kane nearly won it for the Hawks, but Martin Jones stopped his blast with 1:20 remaining.
Ejdsell was a free agent last summer and decided to sign with Nashville, but he wasn't at all upset when he found out about the trade.
"I haven't really been to Nashville, so I didn't get too attached to it," said Ejdsell, who scored 20 goals in 50 games in Sweden's top league and played two games for Rockford before getting called up Sunday. "I was (also) here in Chicago to visit.
"I was a free agent, so I was around three cities watching what they had to give and offer. I came here for a reason because I was interested, but it fell on Nashville. But still I'm super excited to be here."
Jonathan Toews, Anthony Duclair and John Hayden are out with upper-body injuries, so Ejdsell figures to get a few more chances to show what he can do.
Writers pick Glass:
Jeff Glass was the Blackhawks' beat writers' nominee for the Masterton Award, given annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
The 32-year-old Glass persevered after spending seven years in Russia and finally made his NHL debut on Dec. 29, 2017 at Edmonton. He made 42 saves that night in a 4-3 overtime victory.
Glass made 14 appearances (12 starts) and went 3-6-3 with an .898 save percentage and 3.31 goals-against average.
The Hawks signed Glass to a two-year deal on Feb. 23, 2017, and he proceeded to play 20 games for the IceHogs at the end of last season.
"When I came back (from Russia), I knew I was going to have to start from the bottom, but I didn't realize quite how far down," Glass said. "It took me awhile to really kind of get on the radar anywhere. … And then these guys gave me a chance. I'll forever be thankful for that chance."
The Masterton winner will be announced with the other NHL awards in June.
Slap shot:
The Hawks agreed to terms with defenseman Joni Tuulola on a two-year contract that begins next season. Tuulola, 22, was drafted by the Hawks in the sixth round in 2015. He will report to Rockford.