TALKINGPOINTS
TEAM DRAWS URGENCY FROM TOEWS’ PRE GAME SPEECH
Five minutes into the game Sunday, goalie Anton Forsberg already had made three big save son ConnorMcDavid. As far as confidence boosters go, those are pretty good.
“He’s a good player,” Forsberg said of the best player in the world, an unintentional deadpan. “He comes with a lot of speed. But it builds your confidence a little bit. It’s good to get the first save out of the way early.”
And Forsberg needed all the confidence he could get. Not only had he not won a game in nearly two months, he had only two wins in his NHL career, spanning parts of four seasons. And he had just lost his job to a 32- year- old journeyman with no NHL experience in Jeff Glass. So the 32- save effort in a 4- 1 victory against the Oilers— the first regulation win of Forsberg’s career, he pointed out— was amassive relief.
“I’ve been waiting for it for a while,” Forsberg said.
Forsberg will get another start Tuesday in Ottawa orWednesday at home against Minnesota. How he fares could determine if he gets to keep the net going forward in Corey Crawford’s absence. A soft goal through the five- hole on a Darnell Nurse redirect in the second period aside, Forsberg couldn’t have done much better against Edmonton.
“Big game for him,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “It was important he came in and did what he had to do— most importantly, win.”
Murphy scratched
ConnorMurphywas a surprise healthy scratch, as JanRutta’s fourgame banishment to the press box ended. It was the fourth timeMurphy has been scratched this season, but the first time since Oct. 28, during a shaky first month in Chicago. Quenneville made it sound like it was just Murphy’s turn.
“Murph had a real good stretch of 20 games there; he was playing effectively and consistent on the left side,” Quenneville said. “[ But we] have eight defensemen we feel can all play. We’ve had some tough decisions on who’s playing, who’s not playing. It’s healthy when we have to make tough decisions. ... One thing that’s been good for us is when guys have been out, when they come back in, they’ve been playing good and making it tough on us.”
Oz strikes again
Jordan Oesterle scored for the third time in five games after going without a goal the first 35 games of his career. Oesterle, who played only four games in the first two months, has solidified his spot on the top pairing alongside Duncan Keith.
“I like him offensively,” Quenneville said. “He’s got good play recognition, moves the puck quickly, has some quickness to his game. He has an offensive mind— seeing plays and making plays. And he’s got a good shot, too. He finds a way to get that seam, be it slapping it or snapping it. It has some pace to it. He thinks the game offensively. And I think his defensive game may be a little underrated.”
Whither Anisimov?
Center Artem Anisimov missed his fifth consecutive game with an upper- body injury, and he still could be days away from even skating on his own. Quenneville said it’s possible that he doesn’t return to the ice until after the Hawks’ bye week, which runs from Jan. 15 to 19.
Meanwhile, Nick Schmaltz has scored in three consecutive games and has been rolling as the secondline center. David Kampf has been playing well as the third- line center, too. Where does that leave Anisimov when he returns?
“We’ll deal with that,” Quenneville said. “But Schmaltz looks like he belongs in the middle. . . . Again, we welcome those opportunities that make us deeper.”