The Chicago Blackhawks will be decidedly shorthanded for tonight’s game against Carolina.
Patrick Kane -- placed on LTIR, out for the remainder of the regular season -- won’t suit up against the ‘Canes, nor will fellow forwards Bryan Bickell and Brandon Saad.
Veteran defenseman Michal Rozsival will also be out, per ‘Hawks head coach Joel Quenneville.
It’s unclear exactly what’s ailing everyone outside of Kane, who suffered a leg injury after colliding with St. Louis’ Brenden Morrow at 7:56 of the second period in a 4-0 win on Wednesday. The injury isn’t believed to be serious, but ‘Hawks are going to hold Kane out of the lineup until playoff time, mostly as a precautionary measure.
Saad and Rozsival sat versus St. Louis with upper and lower body ailments, respectively (both have actually missed the last two games after getting hurt Sunday’s win over Detroit). Bickell played over 14 minutes against the Blues, putting three shots on goal while registering two hits.
It’s also worth noting that touted Finnish prospect Teuvo Teravainen, called up to the club on Friday, won’t play against Carolina tonight either.
As such, here are what Chicago’s forward lines looked like at the morning skate:
Kris Versteeg--Jonathan Toews--Marian Hossa
Patrick Sharp--Michal Handzus--Andrew Shaw
Peter Regin--Ben Smith--Jeremy Morin
Brandon Bollig--Marcus Kruger--Sheldon Brookbank