Murphy, Johnson both in concussion protocol for Hawks

Connor Murphy and Tyler Johnson were placed in concussion protocol and did not practice at Fifth Third Arena on Monday as the Blackhawks prepared to host Boston on Tuesday.

Murphy was stretchered off the ice after a hit by Parker Kelly early in the first period of the Hawks' 6-3 win Saturday at Ottawa.

Kelly got Murphy's phone number from a buddy and reached out to the Hawks' defenseman.

"Obviously felt pretty bad," said Kelly, who was assessed a five-minute major and a 10-minute misconduct penalties for the hit along the boards. "You don't want to see anyone go out on a stretcher. ... He accepted my apology so I'll just kind of leave it at that."

The hit on Murphy weighed heavy on all of the Hawks' minds during the first intermission.

"Our little speech in between periods was, 'Let's win this one for Murph,' " said forward MacKenzie Entwistle.

The Hawks, who trailed 2-0 after one period, did exactly that, with Jonathan Toews and Caleb Jones both scoring twice, and additional tallies coming from Sam Lafferty and Dylan Strome.

"Murphy's a good buddy," said fellow defenseman Jake McCabe. "We've seen too many stretchers this year. It's a scary thing. Definitely it's tough to regroup so quickly after that. Just happy that he's doing well and we were able to pull out a win for him too."

Murphy has missed 51 games over the past three-plus seasons due to injury, with 30 coming at the start of the 2018-19 campaign. He has 4 goals and 6 assists while averaging just shy of 22 minutes in 57 games this season.

With Murphy out, young D-men like Jakub Galvas, Alec Regula or Isaak Phillips should get more playing time.

Johnson returned March 3 after missing 46 games with a neck injury. He is day to day.

The Hawks are 4-4-0 in their last eight games and 22-30-8 overall. They lost in heartbreaking fashion Thursday to Boston when the Bruins scored with 17 seconds remaining to claim a 4-3 victory. Boston (36-18-5) has won nine of 11 and is 18-8-3 on the road.