CHICAGO — The list of things Teuvo Teräväinen would rather do than talk to a reporter is long and lurid. It likely includes “fold a fitted sheet,” “pay escrow” and “try to trim a cat’s claws,” among other harrowing endeavors.
The list of things Teräväinen would rather do than talk about himself is even longer. Heck, it might be endless.
So when it was pointed out to him that he has as many points since mid-December — that’s half the season to date, hardly a negligible sample size — as Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby, Teräväinen seemed to tense up almost immediately. How does he explain his scoring binge?
“I don’t know,” he said. “Good question.”
Peak Teräväinen, right there.
The 30-year-old Finn has nine goals and 27 assists in his last 32 games, including two goals and four assists in his last three. His power-play goal in the first period of Wednesday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators extended his points streak to six games (and the team’s point streak to three). All this while in a largely defensive role, skating with Ilya Mikheyev and Jason Dickinson (and a variety of centers since Dickinson’s ankle injury last month), routinely matching up against opponents’ best players.
“A lot of them are power-play points,” Teräväinen shrugged. “The power play has been clicking pretty good, so you get points that way, of course. Otherwise, I don’t know. Sometimes the points come. A lot of the time, I’m just trying to pass to guys, so thanks to them. They’ve been scoring.”
Pure, uncut Teräväinen, right there.
Pat Maroon aptly described Teräväinen after the game when he said he “never hurts the team,” praising his all-around game and elite hockey sense.
But it wasn’t long ago that Teräväinen seemed utterly lost. In the 25 games before Dec. 15, he had just three goals and three assists, and admitted his confidence was pretty much shot. But his red-hot resurgence hasn’t really changed the Blackhawks’ fortunes in any way, which has put a damper on things in his mind.
“Everybody’s watching how you’re doing, points-wise, so there’s always the pressure,” he said. “But I haven’t really felt (the release of that pressure) because we’ve been losing a lot. If we would be winning more and I was getting points, then it would feel like you’re helping the team to win. But now it’s different, a different feeling.”
Interestingly, Teräväinen is one of the very few Blackhawks forwards who hasn’t spent any time on Connor Bedard’s line in recent months. On Wednesday, Colton Dach got a turn alongside Bedard and fellow rookie Frank Nazar, before yielding to another rookie, Landon Slaggert, in the third period. Bedard had two shots on goal and five attempts, but no real Grade-A scoring chances.
Teräväinen has noticed, and certainly wouldn’t mind another spin with Bedard, with whom he played early in the season. But Teräväinen being Teräväinen, he’s not complaining.
“Yeah, we’ve only been together on the power play,” he said. “At least there we can make some plays together and it’s been good. But five-on-five, we haven’t played much together. I don’t know why it’s that way. It’s up to the coaches, of course. But I feel like I’ve been playing a lot with Mikky and Dicky, before he got hurt. We’ve been clicking pretty good, so I think that’s why we haven’t changed that line.”
Even as Bedard scuffled to his seventh straight game without a point Wednesday night, interim head coach Anders Sörensen didn’t bump either of his hottest forwards — Teräväinen and Ryan Donato — to the top line, keeping them together with Mikheyev. Asked before the game why Teräväinen hasn’t gotten a look, Sörensen was typically laconic.
“I mean, that line’s working really well,” he said, feeling no need to elaborate further.
Quintessential Sörensen, right there.
Ryan Donato scored his 100th career goal against the Senators amid intense trade speculation. (David Banks / Imagn Images)
Maroon is an unrestricted free agent following this season, but he still wants Ryan Donato around next season, whether he’s there to see it or not.
“I think we should sign him,” a smiling Maroon said. “Don’t you think?”
Donato, of course, has been the subject of increasingly intense speculation as Friday’s trade deadline rapidly approaches. The way Donato’s playing, how could he not be? He has 10 goals and 12 assists in his last 17 games, including four goals and two assists in his last three.
The fact that Donato even played against Ottawa was interesting. If general manager Kyle Davidson really had high hopes for a big return for Donato before Friday, the Blackhawks probably would have held him out of the lineup in an act of “asset management.” But Donato did play, so of course, Donato scored.
Not only was it Donato’s 20th even-strength goal of the season — the same number as Jack Hughes and Kyle Connor, and more than Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, McDavid, Mikko Rantanen, Alex DeBrincat, Artemi Panarin and many other very big names — it was the 100th goal of his career.
But it’s Donato’s relentless style of play that leaves his teammates most impressed — and leaves an impression on the youngsters populating the locker room.
“Dono works his butt off every single game,” Maroon said. “He gives it 110 percent and he gets rewarded by doing that. He’s a hell of a player. He deserves everything he’s got right now. … He’s a guy that probably a lot of these guys (in the room) should look at. He’s just a hard-working guy that continues to do it every single night.”
Added Slaggert: “His process is better than anybody’s I’ve ever seen.”
Petr Mrázek’s season — and Blackhawks tenure — could be done.
Sörensen said after the game that newly acquired Spencer Knight and Arvid Söderblom will share the net going forward, with veteran Mrázek the odd man out. The Blackhawks surely will try to trade Mrázek before Friday’s deadline, but it’s doubtful they’ll be able to. Mrázek is signed for another season at $4.25 million, and the Blackhawks are out of salary retention slots after retaining money on Jake McCabe, Mikko Rantanen and Seth Jones. So barring injuries to Knight or Söderblom, it’s going to be a long month for Mrázek, with either a trade or buyout presumably looming in the summer.
Sörensen said Mrázek is handling it like “a pro.”
“You can’t play three goalies,” Sörensen said. “We’re going to go with those two right now. Things can change, but those are the two guys.”
Söderblom righted the ship Wednesday after a shaky start and finished with 22 saves, as Tim Stützle’s controversial overtime winner stood despite what the Blackhawks saw as goalie interference and what 17,432 fans saw as a distinct kicking motion. Knight, who was spectacular in his 41-save Blackhawks debut on Monday, will start Friday against Utah.
Andreas Athanasiou’s latest stint with the Blackhawks isn’t going well. He was benched for the third period. Asked what he wasn’t seeing from the veteran forward, Sörensen simply said, “Several things.”
(Top photo of Teuvo Teräväinen and Connor Bedard: David Banks / Imagn Images)
