WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The injury-plagued Blackhawks can add one other essential participant to the record.
Brandon Saad left throughout the second interval Thursday with a proper ankle harm, casting a stormy cloud over the Hawks’ 4-1 win towards the Jets.
Saad was combating to get to a free puck forward of Jets defenseman Luca Sbisa when Sbisa gave him a authorized hit. Saad’s legs tangled collectively by the boards and he went down laborious. He was later helped on to the locker room and didn’t return.
In his absence, Patrick Kane took over — as he typically has recently — by completely organising Alex Nylander, Dominik Kubalik and Erik Gustafsson with easy-money objectives, then sniping one in himself. It was his first four-point sport since February of final 12 months and he completely earned all 4 of the factors.
Robin Lehner saved the Hawks afloat by means of a dreadful second interval, too, earlier than the complete roster produced its greatest third-period effort in weeks.
But the spectacular divisional street win gained’t look like a lot of a internet win if Saad misses a prolonged time frame.
The 27-year-old winger has loved a incredible season of driving play and boosting teammates thus far, even when his level manufacturing stays on a typical Saad tempo, and an prolonged restoration timeline — which appears very a lot doable — could be a giant blow for the beat-up Hawks.
Fellow forwards Andrew Shaw and Drake Caggiula are each already on long-term injured reserve, and defenseman Calvin de Haan appears certain for that quickly, too.
Seabrook not on journey
Brent Seabrook didn’t journey on the Blackhawks’ two-game street journey, which started Thursday in Winnipeg and concludes Saturday in Colorado.
Coach Jeremy Colliton stated Thursday that Seabrook has “had a couple things nagging him, and he’s going to get them checked out.”
The Hawks had been extraordinarily obscure concerning the particular nagging accidents Seabrook is affected by, and the information comes at a suspicious time — the 34-year-old defenseman was a wholesome scratch for the third time this season Wednesday at residence towards the Avalanche.
Colliton confirmed Thursday that the scratch resolution was not affected by his well being standing. Seabrook took the total morning skate Wednesday, got here to the locker room afterward after which didn’t play within the sport, so it’s unclear what might have presumably aggravated an harm.
After the loss to the Avalanche, Duncan Keith dissented in his postgame interview with Colliton’s resolution to scratch Seabrook, saying he felt the Hawks’ staff struggles had been being unfairly pinned on his “good friend.”
Sikura once more scratched
The reasoning behind the Hawks latest recall of upper-tier ahead prospect Dylan Sikura stays perplexing after Sikura was scratched for the fifth consecutive sport Thursday.
The 24-year-old prospect, the Rockford IceHogs’ main goal-scorer this season, performed two video games in a bottom-six position instantly after the recall, however has sat by idly since.
“It’s an opportunity to be around the team, and if something happened, he’d have the chance to get in,” Colliton stated Thursday. “That’s not to say he won’t get in anyway, but we did play him a couple games. And [Matthew] Highmore has played really well. From his perspective, it’s certainly not a bad thing to be in the NHL.”