Motte suffers injury, may be out a while
Tyler Motte suffered a lower-body injury in the second period of the Chicago Blackhawks' 4-3 overtime victory against Dallas on Sunday and the rookie may miss several games.
"We'll know more in the next day or so," said coach Joel Quenneville. "Lower body. Tough to say."
Motte was hit by Stars center Radek Faksa and ended up crashing into the boards. Motte stayed down on the ice for about 15 seconds then gingerly skated off, applying almost no pressure on his left leg.
Shortly before the injury, the Hawks cut Dallas' 2-0 lead in half when Jonathan Toews fed Patrick Kane right in front of the net. Kane made a nifty move on Kari Lehtonen and backhanded a shot past the Stars goalie for his fourth goal of the season.
Just as that play developed, Nick Schmaltz also jumped on the ice, which prompted Quenneville to leave Schmaltz on the top line with Kane and Toews the rest of the way. Quenneville hinted beforehand that Schmaltz was on the verge of getting more playing time with "some of the top guys."
"He has good play and high play recognition as far as anticipating where the guys are," Quenneville said after the game. "They think the game (offensively) in different ways, and I think that should complement his style and his game.
"That's a great opportunity. We'll see how it plays out."
Cubs honored:
Chicago has been awash in Cubs fever ever since the North Siders won the World Series on Wednesday, and the Blackhawks did their part by honoring the champs Sunday at the United Center.
Hawks owner Rocky Wirtz, president and CEO John McDonough and executive vice president Jay Blunk were on the ice to congratulate Cubs owner Tom Ricketts, executives Crane Kenney and Colin Faulkner and Cubs players Kyle Schwarber, Jason Heyward and Mike Montgomery.
The players, all wearing Hawks sweaters, brought the World Series trophy to center ice and received a loud ovation from the United Center crowd.
Catcher David Ross, who was late and unable to make the pregame ceremony, participated in the Shoot the Puck competition but missed on all three attempts.
Slap shots:
Andrew Desjardins was expected to make his season debut Sunday, but coach Joel Quenneville opted to stick with the same lineup that beat the Stars 3-2 in Dallas on Saturday. … Corey Crawford is 5-0-1 in his last six starts with a .965 save percentage. … Niklas Hjalmarsson blocked 8 shots at Dallas on Saturday and leads the team with 26. … Heading into Sunday's games, Richard Panik continued to lead the NHL in shooting percentage at 43.8. Artem Anisimov was fourth at 33.3 percent. … The Rockford IceHogs have lost five straight games by a combined score of 22-8. Spencer Abbott (4G, 4A) and Mark McNeill (2G, 6A) are the team's leading scorers after 10 games.