Blackhawks’ Taylor Hall out week-to-week after reaggravating shoulder originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Chicago Blackhawks forward Taylor Hall will be sidelined for at least the next few games after reaggravating his left shoulder and is listed as week-to-week, according to head coach Luke Richardson.
Hall, 31, initially suffered the injury in the second game of the season against the Boston Bruins after taking a blindside hit from his former teammate Brandon Carlo. He missed only one game after originally being listed as week-to-week.
In Saturday’s home opener against Vegas, Hall took a hit from Golden Knights defenseman Brayden Pachal midway through the second period and went to the locker room. He returned for the third period and finished the game.
Hall didn’t practice with the team on Monday, and they’re going to give him some extra time to rest.
“He’s going to be out for a bit,” Richardson said. “We’re not sure how long. He was trying to play through it, and instead of making him still try to do that, you could always have a risk of him hurting it worse or something else protecting it.”
It’s a significant loss in the short term for the Blackhawks, who felt Hall’s absence in Montreal. He’s a stabilizing piece to the top-six.
“He was great at the start of the year and then got banged up in Boston,” Richardson said. “A lot of character coming back in that Toronto game. He plays a physical game, more than people would give him credit for, and he had a good two-way game going, so that’s a good role model for the younger guys.
“Guy that’s won the MVP and a first overall pick and known to be a skilled guy and a speed guy, but he plays both ways and plays the right way, taking hits to make plays. We’re going to miss that for sure, but that’s opportunity for other guys to see what he did and try to emulate that.”
Nick Foligno and Tyler Johnson were promoted to the first line with Connor Bedard at practice on Monday, and Andreas Athanasiou was bumped up to the first power-play unit in Hall’s absence. Johnson will be in the bumper role.
Philipp Kurashev is hoping to make his season debut on Tuesday after missing the first six games with a wrist injury, so he’s expected to be the forward that draws into the lineup for Hall.
The Blackhawks host the Bruins on Tuesday at the United Center.
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