Blackhawks recall Jokiharju from Rockford, plays vs. Avs
With Brent Seabrook still nursing an abdominal injury and Carl Dahlstrom sick, the Chicago Blackhawks recalled rookie defenseman Henri Jokiharju from Rockford on Friday morning.
Dahlstrom was unable play against Colorado, so coach Jeremy Colliton inserted Jokiharju and paired him with Slater Koekkoek.
Jokiharju, who was assigned to the IceHogs on Jan. 31, played just nine minutes, 14 seconds in the Hawks' 5-3 loss to the Avalanche. He failed to block Gabriel Landeskog's shot early in the third period that found its way into the net and gave Colorado a 3-2 lead.
Colliton was pleased with Jokiharju's overall play, however.
"The opportunity he was given, he was solid, made some plays, got some pucks out," Colliton said. "It's a hard game, it's an important game. A lot of pressure and I thought he performed well."
Colliton wasn't sure if Jokiharju's call-up would be short term in nature. Seabrook, who did participate in morning skate, missed a third straight game.
Close call:
At first Drake Caggiula couldn't open his right eye. And when he did, his vision was blurry.
"Scary," is the way the Blackhawks' forward described the aftermath of stick-to-the-face incident at Detroit on Wednesday. It occurred when Jonathan Toews' stick went up through Caggiula's face mask and into his eye in the first period of the Hawks' 5-4 OT victory.
Caggiula did not return and had trouble seeing out of the eye until the next morning. After that, all was well and he was able to play against Colorado on Friday.
Crawford update:
Corey Crawford took part in the morning skate before the Blackhawks hosted Colorado and hopes to take the return-to-play concussion test over the weekend.
"I feel good," Crawford said. "Just another practice to try and get ready, get some timing."
Crawford will travel with the team on the upcoming three-game road trip, which begins in Anaheim on Wednesday.
Slap shots:
Marcus Kruger suffered a right-foot injury in the first period when he blocked a shot. He took one shift in the second period and did not return. Coach Jeremy Colliton said "it's nothing serious" but wasn't sure if Kruger could play against Dallas on Sunday. … Duncan Keith's plus-16 rating is best in the league since Jan. 20. …
Patrick Kane (921 career points) needs just 3 more to move past Steve Larmer for fourth place in Blackhawks history. Stan Mikita (1,467), Bobby Hull (1,163) and Denis Savard (1,096) hold the top three spots. Kane also has the most career points among U.S.-born players in their first 12 seasons. He passed Joe Mullen (919 from 1981-93) in Detroit on Wednesday.