Morning Chirps: Nick Lardis injury update, Kirby Dach out again

The Chicago Blackhawks will practice later this morning. We’ll see how they line up without captain Nick Foligno. Plus, we’ll get a better idea of the playing statuses of Jason Dickinson and Tyler Bertuzzi. Check back in later today, as I’ll keep you updated on all the happenings.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks' strong start to the season has generated a lot of buzz, but can they remain in contention for a postseason spot? Justin Lynch listed five key factors for them to stay in the race for the rest of the season.

• Nick Lardis was held out of Sunday’s Rockford IceHogs game for precautionary reasons. He woke up sore from a hit into the boards during Saturday’s loss to the Manitoba Moose. All X-rays came back negative, but they wanted to play it safe, so he sat out as a precaution.

• The IceHogs suffered a tough-luck loss without Lardis. They took a 2-1 lead late into the third period, thanks to goals from Joey Anderson and Aidan Thompson. However, the Texas Stars tied the game with less than three minutes to play and won in a shootout. Thompson was bumped up to the top line to fill in for Lardis and responded with a goal and an assist. Unfortunately, he couldn’t convert in the shootout to extend the game. Rockford returns to action on Wednesday when they host the first-place Grand Rapids Griffins.

• On this date in 1926, the Blackhawks played their first game in franchise history, beating the Toronto St. Patricks 4-1 at the old Chicago Coliseum. George Hay scored the first goal in franchise history with goaltender Hugh Lehman earning the first victory.  

• In 1965, the Blackhawks became the second team in NHL history to win their first five road games of the season. Stan Mikita scored two goals and racked up four points in a 5-3 win over the New York Rangers.

• In 2021, defenseman Seth Jones recorded his 300th career point as the Blackhawks beat the Seattle Kraken 4-2. This was also the first time Seth and his brother Caleb played against each other in the NHL.

NHL Chirps

• The Montreal Canadiens are really going through the ringer when it comes to injuries. After losing Alex Newhook and Kaiden Guhle, you can now add Kirby Dach to their injury report. He will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a broken right foot. If it weren’t for bad luck, Dach would have no luck at all.

• Scratch another potential free-agent target off the list. The Los Angeles Kings signed forward Adrian Kempe to an eight-year, $85 million contract extension on Sunday. At this point, NHL general managers won’t even need to show up to work on July 1.

• The Calgary Flames are in town tomorrow night, but they will be without rookie forward Samuel Honzek. He is week-to-week with an upper-body injury sustained in a collision with captain Mikael Backlund on Saturday.

• The Seattle Kraken will be at the United Center on Thursday night, but you won’t see forward Kaapo Kakko. He was placed on injured reserve and is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, Nov. 17: Gord Smith, Blair McDonald, Dennis Maruk, Chris Tamer, and Roope Hintz.