Michal Kempny back in Blackhawks lineup vs. Islanders

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NEW YORK – Scott Darling will get his seventh consecutive start and Michal Kempny will draw back into the lineup when the Blackhawks face the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

With Corey Crawford still sidelined, Darling is 3-2-1 in his last six starts. He has allowed only three goals over his last four games. Crawford, meanwhile, skated back in Chicago on Wednesday.

“He felt pretty good,” Quenneville said of Crawford, who is nearly two weeks removed from his appendectomy. “We’ll continue to see how he progresses [Thursday] and go from there.”

Obviously, the Blackhawks won’t rush Crawford’s recovery; the original timeline had him coming back in 2-3 weeks and he’s still on that.

“You want to make sure you’re more than ready when you come back, especially with goalies,” Quenneville said. “Talking with the same situation with Jonny [Toews], the want to come back and play as early as possible, but at the same I think they know their body when they’re 100 percent and getting cleared medically is part of that as well. And getting everybody in front of you in practice is something you got to get through first at all.”

Kempny is expected to play after being a healthy scratch the last four games. It looks like Jordin Tootoo will also be back in the lineup. Tyler Motte appears to be the likely forward scratch.

[SHOP: Gear up, Blackhawks fans!]

The Blackhawks will see a few former teammates, including Andrew Ladd. The forward signed a seven-year, $38.5 million contract with the Islanders last summer but his start hasn’t been great. Ladd, who is penciled in on the Islanders’ fourth line, has a goal and two assists in his last 14 games.

“I think anything you’re going through you’re trying to draw on situations that you’ve been in before where if you’ve been struggling or you try to go back to what has made you successful,” Ladd told NHL.com at the Islanders’ morning skate. “I think you're trying everything at this point to get yourself where you want to be.”

Broadcast information

Time: 6 p.m.

TV: CSN

Live Stream: CSNChicago.com

Blackhawks lines

Ryan Hartman-Jonathan Toews-Marian Hossa

Artemi Panarin-Artem Anisimov-Patrick Kane

Dennis Rasmussen-Marcus Kruger-Richard Panik

Andrew Desjardins-Vinnie Hinostroza-Jordin Tootoo

Defensive pairs

Duncan Keith-Niklas Hjalmarsson

Michal Kempny-Brent Seabrook

Brian Campbell-Trevor van Riemsdyk

Goaltender

Scott Darling

Injuries 

Corey Crawford (appendix)

Islanders lines (via Newsday)

Anders Lee-John Tavares-Josh Bailey

Shane Prince- Brock Nelson-Ryan Strome

Nikolay Kulemin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck

Andrew Ladd-Alan Quine-Jason Chimera

Defensive pairs

Nick Leddy-Adam Pelech

Calvin de Haan-Travis Hamonic

Thomas Hickey-Johnny Boychuk

Goaltender

Thomas Greiss

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