Chicago Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard and Minnesota Wild rookie Brock Faber are locks to be a finalist for the Calder Trophy, an annual award given to the NHL's top rookie, and there's a good chance Marco Rossi will join his teammate as the third finalist.
On Sunday afternoon, in the final meeting of the season between the Wild and Blackhawks, Rossi (goal) and Faber (primary assist) outdueled Bedard (no points, just one shot) for a second time this season en route to the Wild’s 4-0 shutout win in Chicago.
With the Wild up 1-0, Rossi received a slick, no-look pass from Mats Zuccarello and beat Chicago goalie Arvid Soderblom from the right circle on a shot that went post and in with 7:30 left in the second period.
Rossi now has 21 goals and 38 points in 77 games this season. The 22-year-old center trails only Bedard by one goal for the rookie lead with five games left.
If it wasn't for the Blackhawks' sensational young center and the Wild's two-way force on the blueline, Rossi would likely win the award.
Rossi wasn't the only one to make an impact Sunday. Faber, who is competing with Bedard for the Calder, led the Wild with a 24:03 time-on-ice total. Faber finished with one hit, one block, a +1 rating, a primary assist and three shots.
With the 21-year-old blueliner on the ice, the Wild controlled 54.76% of the on-ice Corsi share and 86.97% of the expected goal share, according to Natural Stat Trick. With the Wild up 3-0 in the third period Sunday, Faber collected the puck in the defensive zone, carried it up the ice and drove to the net while drawing two defenders to him...but instead of shooting, he dropped the puck to Kirill Kaprizov, who beat Soderblom high glove for his fourth goal in two games.
Faber provided the Wild both quantity and quality yet again Sunday. He's up to seven goals and 43 points over 77 games, while averaging over 25 minutes a night on the Wild's blueline. He's been playing in a top-pair role, playing both power play and penalty kill, and he’s faced elite competition in 36.4 percent of his ice time this season, according to PuckIQ.
“He's very solid defensively,” Wild coach John Hynes told the media Sunday, “but his offensive game continues to come. He certainly has the ability because you can wanna make some of those plays — or do the things that he's done this year from an offense perspective — but you also have to have the ability and the hockey sense to be able to do it, and tonight was another example of that.”
Faber and Rossi have played well against the Blackhawks this season and are a huge reason why the Wild swept the three-game season series. Faber recorded four primary assists, and Rossi scored three times during the season series. The Wild limited Bedard, who missed the second meeting because of a broken jaw, to just one secondary assist and four shots between his two games.
The Wild rookie duo has continued their strong play down the stretch. And they’re just scratching the surface in their rookie season while providing a glimpse of the future in the process.
“I think to have younger players in your lineup and play important roles and not only just play but be real productive players for you is certainly I think good for them as individuals and their confidence levels as players,” Hynes said last month of Rossi and Faber.
“But also I think for your team moving forward, that’s certainly something that has to happen — particularly in the salary cap era where you have to be able to have young guys come in to your lineup. Lots of times on entry level contracts. And if those guys can be impact players like Rossi and Faber have been, it certainly is going to help your team in the now, as they have this year, but also in the future, for sure.”
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