Artem Anisimov will be out and Vinnie Hinostroza is in when the Blackhawks host the Washington Capitals Friday night at the United Center.
Anisimov left in the second period with an upper-body injury on Wednesday, when the Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 in overtime. Coach Joel Quenneville said there’s a good chance Anisimov plays on Sunday vs. the Canadiens.
Hinostroza returns after being a healthy scratch the previous four games. He was centering the third line, with Ryan Hartman and Jordin Tootoo.
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“Being a center, you give it to your wing and you’ve got to get up the middle and create space for them,” Hinostroza said. “So speed’s definitely a big thing at center and I’m going to look to create some speed tonight.”
Corey Crawford gets the start.
The Blackhawks are riding a seven-game winning streak. The Capitals had a five-game winning streak prior to their 3-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.
NHL
“Obviously we’re playing probably the hottest team in the league right now. They’re phenomenal in this building. They’re very good at home and they feed off the crowd,” Washington head coach Barry Trotz said. “We had some rough nights in here in the past where you felt they were all over you. The way they’re playing, it’ll be a real good test for us.”
Broadcast information
Time: 7:30 p.m.
TV: CSN
Blackhawks lines
Nick Schmaltz-Jonathan Toews-Patrick Kane
Artemi Panarin-Marcus Kruger-Marian Hossa
Ryan Hartman-Vinnie Hinostroza –Jordin Tootoo
Andrew Desjardins-Dennis Rasmussen-Richard Panik
Defensive pairings
Duncan Keith-Brian Campbell
Michal Kempny-Brent Seabrook
Gustav Forsling-Niklas Hjalmarsson
Goaltender
Corey Crawford
Injuries
Tyler Motte (lower body), Trevor van Riemsdyk (upper body), Anisimov (upper body)
Capitals lines (via Washington Post)
Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-T.J. Oshie
Marcus Johansson-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson
Andre Burakovsky-Lars Eller-Justin Williams
Zachary Sanford-Jay Beagle-Daniel Winnik/Brent Connolly
Defensive pairings
Karl Alzner-Matt Niskanen
Dmitri Orlov-John Carlson
Brooks Orpik-Taylor Chorney
Goaltender
Braden Holtby