A few news and notes from the morning skate ahead of Thursday evening’s Chicago Blackhawks game against the St. Louis Blues.
The Blackhawks lines at morning skate on Thursday were basically the same as in the Carolina Hurricanes game with a few bottom-six swaps. MacKenzie Entwistle was skating on the third line in place of Sam Lafferty who was out for an illness and is a gametime decision.
Jujhar Khaira was out for maintenance, but he did not skate in the previous game.
Alex Stalock is expected to start in net. He won his first game back from injury — and the Blackhawks only win over the last 10 games — against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 23, stopping 27 of 29 shots.
Stalock confirmed starting for the Blackhawks, per Richardson.
Lafferty is a game-time decision due to illness. Khaira is unavailable due to injury. Entwistle is also banged up despite skating this morning so he’s not a sure thing for tonight either. https://t.co/RyK44qXPpg
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) December 29, 2022
Sam Lafferty’s under the weather so he’ll be a game-time decision. If he plays, MacKenzie Entwistle, who’s a little banged up but did skate, would come out. Jujhar Khaira is dealing with some nagging soreness, nothing serious.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) December 29, 2022
One player still missing from the lineup is defenseman Ian Mitchell, who has played in only seven NHL games so far this season, and it appears his frustrations are rising about his situation. It would not be surprising at all if Mitchell was traded in the near future.
“I think I’ve been playing well. I’m just not getting the opportunity to show it every night.”
Defenseman Ian Mitchell is getting increasingly frustrated with his (lack of) usage by Luke Richardson and the Blackhawks.
And he’s right to be.
My column: https://t.co/IKMumRKr8h
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) December 29, 2022
On Wednesday, head coach Luke Richardson took some time to go over the Blackhawks’ defensive breakdowns in the Carolina game, specifically on the first goal:
And then here’s Richardson’s breakdown, if you want to learn more about the intricacies of hockey: pic.twitter.com/RDSz6APsmq
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) December 28, 2022
As for the Blues, Jordan Binnington will be starting in net. He’s struggled this season — he has just a .895 save-percentage and 3.20 goals against average — so there is an opportunity for the Blackhawks to exploit the issues he’s having.
Binnington first off the ice. #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) December 29, 2022
Important note for Blues injuries: Torey Krug was placed on long-term injured reserve earlier this week, so St. Louis will be without their second best offensive defensemen. In his place, Calle Rosen — who has seven points (3 G, 4 A) in 18 games — will slot back into the Blues lineup.
Torey Krug has been placed on long-term injured reserve and will be re-evaluated in six weeks. Tyler Tucker has been recalled from Springfield. https://t.co/PCNgyJImz0 #stlblues
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 27, 2022
With Torey Krug’s injury, Blues will depend on another Swede to provide ‘Boom-Boom’ https://t.co/Fm1ERlQ4R6
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) December 28, 2022
Projected Lines
Blackhawks
T. Johnson — Domi — Kane
Kurashev — Toews — Raddysh
Athanasiou — Dickinson — Entwistle/Lafferty
Katchouk — R. Johnson — Blackwell
McCabe — S. Jones
Phillips — Murphy
Johnson — C. Jones
Mrazek
Stalock
Blues
Buchnevich — O’Reilly — Schenn
Kyrou — Thomas — Tarasenko
Saad — Acciari — Barbashev
Toropchenko — Brown — Leivo
Mikkola — Parayko
Leddy — Faulk
Rosen — Bortuzzo
Binnington
Greiss