Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith sat out practice today with a sore left hand and won’t play tomorrow in Florida.
Keith suffered the hand injury when blocking a shot midway through Monday’s 5-4 OT win over Nashville.
Coach Joel Quenneville told reporters today the injury wasn’t believed to be serious and that Keith could return “soon.”
In the meantime, it’s going to be a big challenge for the Blackhawks to replace the 25 to 28 minutes Keith typically plays each night. What’s more, they’re not used to being without their best defenseman, who hasn’t missed a game since 2008-09.
“When you’re missing a player like Duncan, it’s always a tough loss,” winger Marian Hossa told the Chicago Sun-Times. “He won the Norris Trophy. He’s the top defenseman on our team. Somebody else is going to have to step up, and somebody else will get more minutes.”
The Blackhawks have another game Friday in Tampa Bay, so they could very well be without Keith for at least the next two games.
Maybe now Steve Montador will get to play more than 15 minutes a night. Only paying the guy $2.75 million a year.