Chicago Blackhawks News

It's unclear whether this is a healthy scratch or if it's related to some unknown injury. Donato has six goals and eight assists in 42 games this season.

Petr Mrazek's run of five consecutive starts will be over after all as Soderblom will be in the crease for Chicago on Thursday. Soderblom was originally projected to play the tail-end of a back-to-back on Wednesday, but the postponement of that game to Thursday opened up the door for the red-hot Mrazek to stay between the pipes. Nevertheless it will be Soderblom in goal, who hasn't played since January 5th. Soderlbom owns an abysmal 2-13-1 record on the season to go along with his .875 SV%. Things won't get any easier for him on Thursday with the Blackhawks being +225 underdogs in Buffalo.

Crevier has not played a game for the Blackhawks since January 2nd but will likely draw back in imminently as Nikita Zaitsev has been placed on the injured reserve with a right knee injury. In 13 games this season, Crevier has three assists, 11 hits, and 28 blocks.

Murphy has played all 43 games for the Blackhawks this season, scoring eight points (2G / 6A), tallying 93 hits, and 105 blocks. He will be replaced by Jarred Tinordi on the blue line in Tuesday's game against the San Jose Sharks.

Dickinson is pacing for the best offensive season of his career and has been rewarded with a two-year, $4.25M AAV contract extension. Through 43 games this season, Dickinson has 21 points (14G / 7A) and is well on pace to break his career-high of 30 points that he set last season with the Blackhawks.

Foligno, currently on IR due to a fractured finger, has made an impact in his first season with the Blackhawks, scoring 17 points (8G / 9A) in 39 games, his best point-per-game pace (0.44) in five seasons. Foligno has also contributed an impressive 73 shots and 84 hits this season. His $4.5 million AAV next season ranks second among all forwards on the Blackhawks, only behind Taylor Hall ($6 million AAV).

Brossoit will start on Thursday for a Jets team that is among the league's best over the last month and is riding a seven-game winning streak. Brossoit and the Jets have a favourable matchup as enormous -409 home favourites against a Chicago Blackhawks team that defeated them 2-1 on December 27th, their only loss in their last 10 games. The Jets' crease has belonged to Hellebuyck, but Brossoit has been terrific lately when called upon, allowing two or fewer goals in each of his last five starts (4-1-0), posting a gaudy .952 SV%.

The Blackhawks will be without rookie phenom Bedard for the next 6-8 weeks after successfully undergoing surgery on Monday. Bedard took a heavy open-ice hit from the Devils' Brendan Smith in the first period of Friday's game and did not return. In addition to being out for the next several weeks, Bedard will also be unable to compete at the All-Star game. Bedard's absence further hurts an already injury-depleted Blackhawks roster, whose active scoring leader is now Philipp Kurashev, who has only 23 points (8G / 15A) in 34 games.

Anderson will play for the first time since December 17th, a 10-game absence due to a left shoulder injury. Anderson has five points (0G / 5A) in 13 games this season and is expected to play on a line with Colin Blackwell and Jason Dickinson.

Brossoit will get the nod in the tail-end of Winnipeg's back-to-back after starter Connor Hellebuyck got the call in Thursday's 2-1 victory over the Sharks. Though his usage has been sparse, Brossoit has been on quite a roll lately, posting a .946 SV% and a 3-1-0 record across his last four games. His last start came on New Year's Eve in Minnesota, when he stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced enroute to a 3-2 victory. He's in a great spot to pick up his third straight victory on Friday with the Jets being -190 road favourites over Anaheim.

Foligno fought the Devils' Brendan Smith in the second period of Friday's game and left the game shortly afterwards. We should expect to receive an update on the injury and a possible timeline for his return to the lineup following the completion of Friday's game.

Bedard took a heavy open-ice hit from the Devils' Brendan Smith in the first period of Friday's game and did not return. We should expect to receive an update on the injury and a possible timeline for his return to the lineup following the completion of Friday's game.

Soderblom will draw the Blackhawks' crease for a second-straight game as he tries to break a perosnal seven game losing streak on the road in New Jersey Friday. The 24-year-old sophomore has been terrible yet again in 2023-24, with wins only against the Toronto Maple Leafs leading to his 2-12-1 record, 4.07 GAA and .874 SV%. He heads to New Jersey to take on the Devils, who have won four of their last five matchups and are sixth in the NHL in goals per game (3.53).

Sanford has played 12 games for the Coyotes this season, recording two points (0G / 2A) and a +2 plus/minus rating. If the career journeyman goes unclaimed, he will return to the Tuscon Roadrunners of the AHL, where he has four points (1G / 3A) in 16 games this season.