The Chicago Blackhawks lost more than just the hockey game on Saturday night as Frank Nazar was injured.
The Chicago Blackhawks had their last weekend game of the season on Saturday afternoon, as they welcomed the St. Louis Blues to the United Center.
The Blues woke up with a very small chance to make the playoffs, but a Los Angeles Kings win earlier in the day eliminated St. Louis.
This game had a twist at the start. For one, Arvid Soderblom started the game, which is likely his last of the season. They also had Ethan Del Mastro scratched, replaced on defense by Sam Lafferty, who is a forward.
The ugly finish to the season continued for the Blackhawks, as the Blues skated out of town with a 5-3 victory. Jimmy Snuggerud scored to make it 1-0 Blues at 9:26 of the first period, but Ryan Greene responded to tie the game at 15:07.
Just 3:04 into the second period, Ilya Mikheyev gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead, which gave Sacha Boisvert his first career NHL assist, but Alexey Toropchenko tied it up at 4:10. From there, the Blues scored three more to make it 5-2.
In the third period, Ilya Mikheyev added his second goal of the game at 13:35. This one was a nice setup by Tyler Bertuzzi. Anton Frondell also earned an assist on the play, giving him 9 points in his first 10 NHL games.
That 5-3 score stood as the final despite an effort by Chicago to tie it up with Arvid Soderblom on the bench. The loss is their third straight in regulation.
To make matters worse, Frank Nazar left the game with an injury. A puck hit him in the face, and he immediately went to the locker room. Of course, Nazar already missed a lot of time during the winter with a jaw injury.
After the game, head coach Jeff Blashill confirmed that Nazar is day-to-day. There are only two games left in the season, so that could mean anything, but he did confirm that he thinks he avoided the "worst case scenario", which would be him having a broken jaw again.
Nazar is not the only injured player. Andrew Mangiapane left the game after crashing into the net, and Ethan Del Mastro ended up not even dressing due to injury. Both of them are also day-to-day.
This game had signs of a young team that is thin on bodies to play, frustrated, and out of gas. Two games are remaining to try and find a spark in front of their home fans before an incredibly important off-season.
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What’s Next For The Blackhawks?
The Chicago Blackhawks will be back in action on Monday night. They have their second-to-last match of the season, a home game against the Buffalo Sabres.
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