Blackhawks’ Crawford out with suspected concussion
Corey Crawford is day to day with an upper-body injury, coach Joel Quenneville said after the Blackhawks’ No. 1 goalie missed Friday’s morning skate.
Henrik Karlsson was recalled from Rockford to be Ray Emery’s backup for the game against San Jose. The 6-foot-6, 209-pound Karlsson was acquired from Calgary on Jan. 21 for a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft.
Crawford suffered a suspected concussion late in Tuesday’s shootout loss to Anaheim when he was run over and kneed in the head by Bobby Ryan. Hawks defenseman Brent Seabrook bumped Ryan into his goalie.
“He didn’t feel great after practice (Thursday),” Quenneville said. “I don’t know if that was it or (if it happened in) practice. I don’t know if there was a defining blow.”
Hopefully for the Hawks it’s a short-term injury for Crawford, who is 7-0-3 with a 1.65 goals-against average and .935 save percentage.
The 29-year-old Karlsson appeared in 26 games in his Flames career, going 5-9-8 with a .905 save percentage. He was 2-2 at Rockford with a 2.23 goals-against average and .919 save percentage.
“It’s always a little bit weird when a guy gets injured, but this is where I want to be,” Karlsson said. “Obviously I’m a pretty big guy, so I just want play a modern style of goaltending, try to block as many shots as possible and be square to the puck.
“I’m just happy Chicago wanted me (because) I needed to move from Calgary. I had two great learning years there.
“I’m just glad to get a fresh start here. I don’t want to be no bad excuses or open any bad doors, but it was a tough situation (sitting behind Miikka Kiprusoff). I learned a lot and came out of it a better goalie.”
Quenneville couldn’t say if Crawford would be available to play Sunday afternoon against Los Angeles at the United Center.
No place like home:When Joel Quenneville told reporters Thursday that Ray Emery would start against San Jose, he may or may not have known about Corey Crawford#146;s injury.All Quenneville said was that Emery hadn#146;t played a game at the UC yet and deserved a chance to play at home.#147;We want to make this a hard place to come into, which was the case last year for the most part,#148; Emery said.#147;It#146;s always good to play in front of the home fans and get comfortable in that setting because if it comes down to it and you get home ice in the playoffs that#146;s what you have to do, win at home.#148;More on Kevlar:It turns out Bryan Bickell wears a Kevlar sleeve to protect his wrists from skate blades.Kevlar socks are the hot topic around the NHL following Erik Karlsson#146;s injury to his Achilles tendon from Matt Cooke#146;s skate blade Wednesday.Karlsson suffered a partially severed Achilles tendon and will need surgery. The reigning Norris Trophy winner is expected to miss the rest of the season.#147;It#146;s something some guys are talking about, especially after what happened to Karlsson,#148; Patrick Kane said. #147;It#146;s surprising it doesn#146;t happen more often. You saw the force on it; it probably would have got through anything.#148;Only in Canada:The Ottawa Sun on Friday featured 11 pages of coverage on Erik Karlsson#146;s injury.