The Blackhawks are happy to have Johnny Oduya back in the fold. They just won’t be getting him back on the ice tonight.
Oduya is expected to be here at some point today but will not play when the Blackhawks face the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Blackhawks got Oduya back on Tuesday night, sending Mark McNeill and a conditional fourth-round pick from the 2018 NHL draft to the Dallas Stars.
Coach Joel Quenneville already has designs on re-pairing Oduya and Niklas Hjalmarsson, who formed a great duo during previous seasons. But that's when Hjalmarsson comes off his upper-body injury; on Tuesday Hjalmarsson was placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Thursday.
It's dependent on Oduya's health, too. The defenseman is coming off a re-aggravated ankle injury that cost him more than a month; he was back in the Stars' lineup on Sunday against the Boston Bruins. Quenneville said the Blackhawks will give Oduya as much time as necessary to be 100 percent healthy.
"We'll see how he is and where he's at," Quenneville said. "We're looking forward to getting him on the ice and making sure, coming off this injury, he's more than ready to go."
As for tonight's game, Scott Darling will get the start. Corey Crawford, coming off an illness, skated again this morning and will serve as the backup against the Penguins.
"I felt way better today," Crawford said. "It was a good practice. Just go with the flow, no rush right now. 'Darls' is playing great so that's always good. I just gotta battle, get the timing back in practice and go from there."
NHL
Artem Anisimov, who missed Tuesday's practice, skated this morning and will play tonight.
BLACKHAWKS VS. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
7 p.m.
TV: NBCSN
Live stream: NBC Sports app
Radio: WGN 720 AM
Chicago Blackhawks
Forward lines
Nick Schmaltz -Jonathan Toews-Richard Panik
Artemi Panarin-Artem Anisimov-Patrick Kane
Tomas Jurco-Marcus Kruger-Marian Hossa
Ryan Hartman-Tanner Kero-Andrew Desjardins
Defensive pairs
Duncan Keith-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Michal Kempny-Brent Seabrook
Brian Campbell-Michal Rozsival
Goaltender
Scott Darling
INJURIES/ILLNESS: Niklas Hjalmarsson (upper body).
Pittsburgh Penguins
Forward lines
Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby-Jake Guentzel
Carl Hagelin-Evgeni Malkin-Patric Hornqvist
Scott Wilson-Nick Bonino-Phil Kessel
Tom Kuhnhackl-Matt Cullen-Eric Fehr
Defensive Pairs
Brian Dumoulin-Ron Hainsey
Cameron Gaunce-Justin Schultz
Ian Cole-Chad Ruhwedel
Goaltender
Marc-Andre Fleury
INJURIES/ILLNESS: None.