Toews, Murphy leave Chicago Blackhawks game with injuries

An injury to key players is the last thing a team wants in a preseason finale, and the Chicago Blackhawks are hoping they dodged a bullet when it comes to Jonathan Toews and Connor Murphy at the United Center on Saturday night.

Toews and Murphy were hurt in the third period of the Hawks' 1-0 victory over Boston and did not return.

Coach Joel Quenneville was optimistic both players "are going to be all right."

Toews' injury appears to be to his left leg as he was hit by a Duncan Keith shot with the Hawks on the power play. It's unclear how Murphy was injured, but he was taken to the locker room with 4:40 remaining.

The Hawks are off Sunday so we'll likely have to wait until Monday for an update.

Patrick Sharp scored a power-play goal with 8:47 left in the third period, and Corey Crawford stopped all 38 Bruins shots in what was a rough game for the Hawks.

"Corey was outstanding, especially in that second period where we hemmed him in our end pretty well," Quenneville said. "Made several key stops; a couple (of which) were all-alone looks on the open side."

Said Sharp: "I'm glad that game was over because it was pretty ugly all around for all of us. … I thought I felt good all training camp and it wasn't my best tonight. But it was nice to contribute on the power play and hopefully it'll be much better on Thursday."

That's when the Hawks open the regular season against Pittsburgh at the United Center. Don't be surprised if the starting defense looks the same as it did Saturday: Duncan Keith paired with Murphy (if he's OK); Gustav Forsling paired with Brent Seabrook; and Michal Kempny paired with Jan Rutta.

Alex DeBrincat also looked good again and appears to have made the team.

Slap shot:

The Hawks assigned Ville Pokka to Rockford after the defenseman cleared waivers. … Nick Schmaltz won six of 10 faceoffs and Tanner Kero was 11-for-16 against Boston.