Coach Luke Richardson looking for spark to boost sliding Chicago against Columbus. Hall a late scratch as he's still dealing with health matter.
Rookie defenseman Kevin Korchinski will join fellow teenager Connor Bedard on the Chicago Blackhawks' top power-play unit on Wednesday at Columbus against the Blue Jackets.
Meanwhile, forward Taylor Hall was sent back to Chicago to have a health matter checked. The 32-year-old has already missed six of 16 games this season with shoulder and lower-body injuries. Boris Katchouk will take Hall's place on left wing.
When healthy, Taylor Hall (right) has been effective. He's missed six of 16 games already.Chicago, 5-11-0, has lost four straight. The Blue Jackets are on even a worse slide, having dropped nine in a row in an 0-7-2 skid.
The Blackhawks entered with an 11.3% power-play conversion rate, fourth worst in the NHL. Chicago has just six goals with the man advantage in 53 chances.
Veteran D-man Seth Jones was moved to the second power-play unit.
"Nothing has really been clicking so we've got to change it up," Jones said. "Kev is great puck-mover and it's just a different look for us. We want to get more shots to the net, so try to develop chemistry somewhere."
Like Bedard, the NHL's rookie scoring leader, the smooth-skating 19-year-old Korchinski has shown he has great wheels and tools. The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native is still learning, however, when it comes to reading plays on the ice — both with and without the puck. He's a minus-8
"Obviously it's a privilege," Korchinski said. "It means that they trust me, which is awesome. And yeah, it's an opportunity."
Based on Tuesday's practice, here are likely line combinations and defense pairings for the game. It starts at 7 ET.
Forward Lines
F1. Lukas Reichel-Connor Bedard-Philipp Kurashev
F2. Boris Katchouk-Tyler Johnson-Taylor Raddysh
F3. Nick Foligno-Jason Dickinson-Corey Perry
F4. Ryan Donato-MacKenzie Entwistle-Reese Johnson
Defense Pairings
D1. Alex Vlasic-Seth Jones
D2: Kevin Korchinski-Connor Murphy
D3. Wyatt Kaiser- Isaak Phillips
Goal
Petr Mrazek (starter)/Arvid Söderblom