Knights blast Hawks, de Haan leaves game with injury
LAS VEGAS - Already without Duncan Keith, the last thing the Blackhawks needed to see was another defenseman going down to injury.
But that's exactly what happened during their 5-1 loss to Vegas on Tuesday as Calvin de Haan injured his right shoulder after being run into the sideboards by Mark Stone late in the first period.
De Haan, who has twice had surgery on that shoulder, was sent back to Chicago where he will be evaluated. There is no timetable for how long he will be out.
"He's a great player, so anytime you lose someone that good it's going to have a big effect," Connor Murphy said afterward. "It put more pressure on us, but we've still got to be able to play with whoever we have."
Keith, who has missed six straight games, is considered week-to-week with a groin injury.
"Just the next man in (has got) to step up," Murphy said. "As a team, you're going to have a lot of ups and downs throughout the season and stuff like that is going to happen. The next guy's got to be ready to play and we believe we have players that are good enough to make that impact and step in."
Vegas (16-12-5) took a 3-0 lead on second-period goals by Reilly Smith (his 13th), Deryk Engelland (1) and William Karlsson (9). Smith's came with just four seconds remaining on a power play, while Karlsson's came short-handed.
Corey Crawford stopped Vegas' first 20 shots, but he couldn't reposition himself in time after a rebound bounced to Smith with 12:33 remaining in the second period.
Vegas outshot the Hawks 29-20 after two periods and 37-28 for the game.
Marc-Andre Fleury, whose dad passed away at age 63 on November 29, returned after missing seven games. His best saves came late in the second period and early in the third on redirect attempts by Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad.
Dominik Kubalik ruined Fleury's shutout bid on his eighth goal of the season with 27 seconds left in the game. The Hawks are now 12-13-6.
Sticking with him:
Robin Lehner remains flummoxed by the shootout.
It's a fact that the goalie admits, and he's even open to being pulled in favor of Corey Crawford if it helps the Blackhawks win.
Coach Jeremy Colliton, however, said he has not considered making such a move.
"Corey's been sitting on the bench for two, three periods," Colliton said before the Hawks took on the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. "You know, Robin looks pretty good in practice. So I think it's something he can get to where he can do the job for us. We believe in him."
Lehner, who went 0-for-2 in a 4-3 shootout loss to Arizona on Sunday, has stopped just 1 of 7 shootout attempts this season and has a .357 save percentage since the start of the 2015-16 season. Crawford, meanwhile, has a .657 save percentage over that time.
"We're still working on it," Lehner said. "We'll see what happens. I'm positive about it. I'm just not very good at it.
Slap shots:
Olli Maatta sat out a fourth straight game for the Blackhawks. The defenseman has been skating but is still recovering his energy after dealing with flu-like symptoms. "We just want him feeling confident that he's ready to play," said coach Jeremy Colliton. Slater Koekkoek and Matthew Highmore were the other scratches vs. Vegas. ... Cody Glass, who was part of the Chicago Wolves' run to the Calder Cup Final last season, has 4 goals and 7 assists in his rookie season in Vegas. Glass was the Golden Knights' first-ever draft pick (No. 6 overall in 2017). Defenseman Nicolas Hague, who scored 13 goals with the Wolves, has 5 assists and is averaging 16 minutes in 24 games for Vegas. ...
Despite getting outshot 56-14, the Rockford IceHogs defeated Milwaukee 2-1 in overtime Tuesday on an Anton Wedin goal. Kevin Lankinen made 55 saves for Rockford. ... Jonathan Toews had a goal and 2 assists in the first period of the Hawks' loss to Arizona on Sunday, marking the ninth time he'd notched 3 or more points in a period.