Suter hat trick powers Chicago to win
Rookie scores his first three NHL goals
I wrote my weekly waiver wire piece on The Athletic here. Also, wrote about the Columbus-Winnipeg trade here.
There have not been a lot of bright lights in Chicago so far this season, and my not be a whole lot even by season’s end, so we might as well celebrate when they do occur.
Chicago won its second straight game Sunday, a 6-2 decision against the Detroit Red Wings, one of the teams that figures to compete with Chicago and maybe Ottawa for the best draft lottery odds by season’s end.
Leading the way for Chicago was rookie center Pius Suter, who scored a hat trick, his first three goals in the National Hockey League. Suter is a 24-year-old Swiss forward who put up 53 points in 50 Swiss league games last season and had five points in six games this season before coming to North America.
There may have been hope that Suter could fill a depth role for the Blackhawks, at least initially, but Chicago’s injuries have pressed Suter into a significant role. For Sunday’s game against Detroit, he was centering the top line between Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane.
That means Dylan Strome has moved down the depth chart and Carl Soderberg also made his debut for Chicago. While there are comparisons being thrown around about which team has the best center depth – and Winnipeg may enter that discussion with Pierre-Luc Dubois joining Mark Scheifele and Paul Stastny – Chicago minus Jonathan Toews and Kirby Dach is definitely not in that discussion.
The good news for Suter is that means he is probably getting more of an opportunity than he would have otherwise.
SUNDAY STARS
CHI C Pius Suter 3 G in 6-2 win vs. Detroit
LA C Anze Kopitar 1 G, 2 A in a 6-3 win at St. Louis
TOR D Morgan Rielly 3 A in a 3-2 win at Calgary
DAL C Joe Pavelski 1 G, 2 A in a 3-2 win vs. Nashville
Sunday Games
N.Y. Islanders 0 New Jersey 2
NJ rookie D Ty Smith 2 A; has six points (1 G, 5 A) in his first five NHL games.
NJ G Scott Wedgewood recorded a 28-save shutout for the win.
Buffalo 4 Washington 3 (SO)
WSH D Justin Schultz and C Nicklas Backstrom 1 G, 1 A
WSH G Vitek Vanecek stopped 45 of 48 shots.
BUF D Colin Miller 1 G, 1 A
BUF D Rasmus Ristolainen 2 A
N.Y. Rangers 2 Pittsburgh 3
PIT C Sidney Crosby 2 A
Detroit 2 Chicago 6
CHI C Pius Suter 3 G
CHI D Connor Murphy and LW Mattias Janmark 1 G, 1 A
CHI RW Patrick Kane 2 A
DET LW Tyler Bertuzzi 2 G
DET D Filip Hronek 2 A
Detroit forwards Luke Glendening and Vladislav Namestnikov were on the ice for three goals against at 5-on-5. Chicago D Connor Murphy was on the ice for four goals for.
Los Angeles 6 St. Louis 3
STL C Brayden Schenn 2 G
STL RW Jordan Kyrou 2 A
LA C Anze Kopitar 1 G, 2 A
LA RW Adrian Kempe 2 A
Edmonton 4 Winnipeg 3
EDM C Connor McDavid 3 A
EDM C Leon Draisaitl 1 G, 1 A
Winnipeg D Derek Forbort was on the ice for three goals against. Edmonton D Darnell Nurse was on the ice for three goals for.
Toronto 3 Calgary 2
TOR D Morgan Rielly 3 A
TOR RW Mitch Marner 2 A
San Jose 5 Minnesota 3
MIN LW Zach Parise 1 G, 1 A
MIN D Ryan Suter 2 A
SJ RW Ryan Donato 1 G, 1 A
Nashville 2 Dallas 3
DAL C Joe Pavelski and C Roope Hintz 1 G, 2 A
DAL RW Denis Gurianov 1 G, 13 iCF, 7 SOG
NSH RW Viktor Arvidsson 2 A
Vegas 1 Arizona 0
VGK G Marc-Andre Fleury 16-save shutout for the win.
Colorado 1 Anaheim 3
ANA G John Gibson stopped 32 of 33 shots for the win.
Injuries/roster adjustments
NYR C Filip Chytil upper body injury
PIT RW Evan Rodrigues lower body injury
Sunday On-Ice Shots/Expected Goals (via Natural Stat Trick)
Monday Game Probabilities
Monday DFS Value Plays
Just one game and the top players on each team are relatively pricey so consider some secondary scorers who should get good opportunities against questionable defense.
OTT RW Evgeni Dadonov $6900
VAN LW Tanner Pearson $6600