The Chicago Blackhawks saw a string of players progress in their injury recovery, with Nick Foligno (fractured finger) and Ryan Donato (illness) fully returning to the team’s practice on Sunday, while Connor Bedard (jaw), Samuel Savoie (leg), and Tyler Johnson (undisclosed) were all on the ice for varying times before the team skate started. Connor Murphy was not able to take part in the team’s skate, though, continuing to miss time with a lower-body injury.
Donato has missed the Hawks’ last two games with an illness, while Foligno has sat out of seven games thanks to a placement on injured reserve earlier in the month. Both players are trending towards a return, finally bringing some form of relief to a Chicago lineup that’s currently experiencing injuries to 10 different players. Foligno went down on the same night that star rookie Bedard was injured. Both players falling out of the lineup effectively fractured Chicago’s top six, with the team going 3-4-0 – including one overtime and one shootout win – and scoring just 13 goals since the pair got hurt. That averages out to 1.85 goals-per-game – a mark that’s significantly held up by the two four-goal outings Chicago has had since Bedard’s injury.
Other notes from around the league:
- Ville Husso (lower-body) is continuing to progress in the Detroit Red Wings practices, while the team continues to be without Patrick Kane (lower-body) and Ben Chiarot (upper-body). Husso was placed on injured reserve in mid-December, missing Detroit’s last 14 games. James Reimer has slotted into the lineup as a result, backing up de facto starter Alex Lyon. Lyon has managed a .922 save percentage across 16 games, while Reimer has recorded an .893 save percentage in 13 appearances.
- Pierre Engvall has returned to the New York Islanders practice in a non-contact jersey after missing the team’s last two games with an upper-body injury. Engvall has managed 14 points in the 41 games he has appeared in, though he’s only scored one point since December 9th. Engvall is in his first full season with the Islanders, joining the team through trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season.