On Wednesday, Spencer Knight returned to Chicago Blackhawks practice after missing three games due to illness.
On Wednesday, the Chicago Blackhawks returned to practice after defeating the Utah Mammoth on Monday night at the United Center. Frank Nazar's overtime winner was one of the top moments of the season, putting a bow on a wonderful celebration of Troy Murray's life.
Next up is another meeting with the Mammoth, except this one will take place in Salt Lake City. This will be their second matchup in less than a week and their third matchup since the Olympics ended.
For the Blackhawks, they are looking for a similar effort from Monday in every game for the rest of the season. There will be some exciting roster moves made in the coming weeks, with prospects making their debuts, but for now, the players who are there want to have a strong finish.
Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky
Bertuzzi-Nazar-Teravainen
Mangiapane-Donato-Mikheyev
Lardis-Lafferty-Slaggert
Vlasic-Crevier
Kaiser-Rinzel
Grzelcyk-Levshunov
Del Mastro
Knight
Soderblom
Commesso
The main takeaway from this lineup is the fact that Spencer Knight was back at practice after missing the last three games due to illness. Expect him back between the pipes on the upcoming two-game road trip.
Arvid Soderblom is there as expected, but they didn't send Drew Commesso back down ahead of practice. Instead, he had the chance to skate with the NHL team again. We'll find out what the plan is for him before they leave for Utah.
The Blackhawks only have 12 available forwards with Oliver Moore on the shelf. Ethan Del Mastro is still up, giving them seven options on defense. Will they skate a traditional lineup or 11/7 on Thursday night against the Mammoth? We won't find out until closer to game time.
Last time out, Ryan Donato moved up with Andrew Mangiapane and Ilya Mikheyev, with Moore hurt, and it was a great two-way line. Not only did they score a goal, but they played well against some of Utah's top stars like Clayton Keller, Dylan Guenther, and Nick Schmaltz.
If this trio can stay healthy and continue playing as well as they did on Monday, they won't miss a beat defensively without Jason Dickinson.
With Donato as the third center behind Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, who are both heating up offensively, Chicago is looking strong down the middle, which sets up the entire group nicely.
ROSTER UPDATE: The Chicago Blackhawks sent down Drew Commesso after practice. He will return to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs.
Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay up to date on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.