The Chicago Blackhawks are coming off of an incredible comeback win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night, but they’ll be without one of their most important players when they take the ice again Sunday against the San Jose Sharks.
That player is center Artem Anisimov, who suffered an injury during Saturday’s tilt. According to head coach Joel Quenneville, Anisimov is day-to-day and will miss the game against the defending Western Conference champions at the United Center.
In Anisimov’s place, Vincent Hinostroza will center a line featuring Ryan Hartman and Marian Hossa on his lines. Jonathan Toews, who normally centers that line, will instead center Anisimov’s line, with Artemi Panarin and Patrick Kane set to play with the captain in the game.
In net, the Blackhawks will once again have Scott Darling play as he’ll complete the back-to-back set in the crease. Lars Johansson will once again back-up, but Quenneville did have some good news as he revealed that Corey Crawford is nearing a return and will continue to work on the ice on Monday during practice.
If all goes according to plan, Crawford could get the start before the Blackhawks begin their Christmas break, but that decision will ultimately be dictated by how well his recovery from his appendectomy is going, according to Quenneville.