Blackhawks recall Nilsson; assign Johnson to Rockford
The Blackhawks recalled forward Jacob Nilsson from Rockford and sent Luke Johnson to the IceHogs in a corresponding move Saturday.
Nilsson, who played under coach Jeremy Colliton for two seasons in Sweden, had 6 goals and 8 assists in 31 games for Rockford. He had a goal and 2 assists in the IceHogs' 5-4 overtime victory over the Chicago Wolves on Friday.
Nilsson is a 5-foot-10, 181-pound center who hails from Morrum, Sweden. He scored 29 goals in 93 games for Mora IK from 2015-17 while Colliton was the team's coach, and he had 8 goals in 40 games last season. He signed a one-year deal with the Hawks on May 31.
Johnson was just called up from Rockford after Marcus Kruger went on injured reserve with a concussion. Johnson played just 6:55 in a 2-1 win at Colorado on Friday and did not play in the final 14½ minutes.
Scouting report
Blackhawks vs. Florida, 6 p.m., at United Center
TV: WGN • Radio: WGN 720-AM
The skinny: Florida is 2-4-1 in its last seven games and lost 6-1 at Toronto on Thursday. "We had too many passengers," Florida coach Bob Boughner told reporters. "If you don't have 20 guys all playing the same way, you can get blown out." ... Evgeni Dadonov (16), Aleksander Barkov (15) and Mike Hoffman (15) are the Panthers' leading goal scorers. ... Since shutting out Boston on Dec. 4, goalie Roberto Luongo is 2-3-1 with an .878 save percentage and 3.76 goals-against average. ... The Hawks defeated Florida on Nov. 24 when Alex DeBrincat scored the game-tying goal with less than two seconds remaining in regulation. Erik Gustafsson scored the game-winner in OT. ... The Panthers have at least 1 power-play goal in 21 of the last 24 games. They are 29-for-86 (33.7 percent) over that time.
Next: Minnesota Wild, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at United Center
- John Dietz