Blackhawks running out of options as injury list grows with Anthony Beauvillier originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
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NASHVILLE — For the third straight game, the Chicago Blackhawks lost a top-nine forward in Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to the Nashville Predators after Anthony Beauvillier left late in the second period.
Beauvillier got jammed up along the boards with Filip Forsberg, who reversed into the Blackhawks forward. Beauvillier immediately dropped his stick in pain and darted to the locker room, and he did not return.
“Yeah, it didn’t look good,” Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson said. “He obviously didn’t finish the game and we’ll obviously get to New York tomorrow and see how he’s feeling there and go from there.”
Here’s the hit that injured Anthony Beauvillier, who’s not on the bench. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/mlNyw43scc
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) January 3, 2024
Richardson called it an upper-body injury, but Beauvillier was seen wearing a brace/cast on his left wrist/arm after the game.
“It’s sad,” Nikita Zaitsev said. “It’s always tough when your teammate goes down. Nothing more to say. We’ve got lots of guys injured, so we’ve got to find a way to win the games.”
At one point in the game, the Blackhawks were down to nine forwards because Beauvillier was in the locker room, Nick Foligno was in the penalty box for seven minutes due to a fighting major and unsportsmanlike conduct, and Colin Blackwell was not on the bench at the end of the second period — although he returned for the third.
“We were short-staffed at the wrong time,” Richardson said. “I thought the guys battled. It was the first step of where we want to go. We don’t like the results, we can’t accept them in this league, but the coaching staff was proud of how we asked them to battle yesterday in practice and bring it to tonight’s game. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any luck around their net. But the process of how we want to play was there.”
The Blackhawks have an off day in New York on Wednesday, so there likely won’t be an official update on Beauvillier until Thursday.
Taylor Raddysh (groin) and Tyler Johnson (right foot) were each placed on injured reserve earlier in the trip. Johnson flew back to Chicago, which indicates his timeline could be a little longer. Raddysh remained with the team and was seen hanging out with his teammates in the locker room after Tuesday’s morning skate in workout gear, which is a positive sign.
Before the starters were announced on Tuesday, the Predators’ public address announcer listed off the injuries for both teams inside the arena. The Blackhawks had six players on their list. The Predators had none, which drew cheers from the hometown crowd at Bridgestone Arena.
The list is getting longer for the Blackhawks, and it’s starting to get comical.
“We’re probably running low on contracts at this point,” Richardson said. “But you know what, I think we just got to stay positive. We got two more games on this road trip and they’re going to be against extremely good teams, and we’ve got to be at our best no matter who’s ready to go.”
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