Vinnie Hinostroza: ‘I just need to have the puck more’

Vinnie Hinostroza was a healthy scratch for the third straight game Monday night, and he’s frustrated. Not because he’s sitting, but because of why he’s sitting.

“It was a little frustrating — just my game,” the rookie winger said. “I played the first few games, and I was getting rid of the puck too fast when there were plays to be made. I was chipping the puck in and chasing it, when I could have kept control and made plays.”

That was the message Hinostroza got from the Blackhawks coaching staff, too. The 22-year-old Bartlett native’s speed is undeniable, but he needs softer hands and more patience in order to stick once he gets back in the lineup. He also needs to work harder to get the puck back on defense, or as Joel Quenneville put it, “be more influential” around loose pucks.

Hinostroza said that watching games from afar and focusing on the Hawks’ more established wingers has helped him get a better feel for what he should be doing. Of the four rookie forwards on the team, Hinostroza is the only one who has yet to score a goal (or even record a point).

“I just need to have the puck more,” he said. “That’s my game, playing with the puck, playing with speed. … That’s just a learning curve here. When I come back, it’ll definitely affect what I do. I’ll look to definitely control the puck more.”

Cubs fever

There have been plenty of comparisons made between the current Cubs and the 2010 Hawks, a young up-and-coming group that took Chicago by storm. But the fever pitch has reached new levels with the Cubs.

“It’s amazing,” Quenneville said. “The town has gone over the top here with the Cubs, and the run, and it’s a great story. We wish them good luck, and congrats so far. I think the level here with the Cubs, going back so long, enthusiasm is at a new high.”

The Hawks watched Game 6 of the NLCS on TV after beating the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. They’ve also been wearing Cubs hats and showing up at games, with Jonathan Toews, Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith singing “Take Me Out To the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch in Game 2. Kris Versteeg, now with the Flames, got a laugh out of that one.

“I was always a Cubs fan; Toews was a White Sox fan,” Versteeg said with a smirk. “I know how he’s probably trying to play it off right now that he’s actually cheering. But I’m excited about it.”

Special struggle

Monday night’s game pits the league’s worst penalty-kill (the Hawks are a dreadful 9-of-21) against the league’s worst power play (the Flames are 1-of-25). But Quenneville’s not getting cocky when it comes to a potential confidence boost his team so desperately needs.

“Right now, we’re just looking to get through one kill,” Quenneville said. “Every game has been a struggle, a battle in that area.”

Email: mlazerus@suntimes.com

Twitter: @marklazerus