Injured Carcillo will be out for a while
LOS ANGELES — Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville knew his depth would be tested by the compressed 48-game schedule.
But he didn’t think it would happen this quickly.
Winger Daniel Carcillo suffered a potentially serious lower-body injury in the third period of the Hawks’ 5-2 victory Saturday over the Kings when he was hit along the boards by defenseman Drew Doughty.
“Danny’s going to miss some time here,” Quenneville said. “Lower body. We’ll know more about the time frame [Sunday].”
Brandon Saad, who was an extra roster addition coming out of camp but a healthy scratch against the Kings, is likely to take Carcillo’s place, Quenneville said, though not necessarily on the top line with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa.
“That’s hockey, and that’s exactly what we were talking about [in camp],” Quenneville said. “Things are happening fast. You’ve got six [games] in nine days here and a busy road schedule right off the bat. It’s just an opportunity for
someone else to come in.”
Toews came down with the flu after the team landed in L.A. on Thursday night. After a sleepless night of “not feeling too hot,” he missed Friday’s workout. But he started eating again later in the day and wound up leading all Hawks forwards in ice time (18:47). He had a goal and an assist and won 16 of 25 faceoffs.
For Toews, adrenaline was the best medicine.
“I felt better, but I think, most of all, you’re just excited to go out and play hockey,” he said. “So that excitement definitely took over and gave me an extra little jump.”
Quenneville said before the game that he would monitor Toews’ fatigue level but never saw the need to sit him down.
“He didn’t ever look like he would want to miss a shift,” Quenneville said.
Toews kept his shifts to about 40 seconds each but lingered a bit longer one time. It paid off, as he swatted in a rebound of a Patrick Kane breakaway attempt for a 4-0 lead early in the second period.
“I was at the end of a long shift, so it was kind of a gamble to go down there instead of changing,” Toews said. “And I got lucky, I guess.”
The Kings certainly didn’t look good in their first game as Stanley Cup champions. But the hangover is common — six of the last seven champs lost their first game back, including the Hawks in 2010-11.
“They’re still a very good hockey team,” Hawks goaltender Corey Crawford said. “I think we just had a really good game.”