Updates on Bedard, Nazar & Teravainen after spirited Blackhawks practice

The snow squall that passed through the Windy City this morning didn’t stop the Chicago Blackhawks from getting some work in at the Fifth Third Arena. They are preparing for tomorrow night's game against the Calgary Flames, who lost 5-3 to the Columbus Blue Jackets last night.

The stomach virus that has ravaged the locker room over the past five days has not run its course just yet. Sam Lafferty didn’t take part in today’s practice as he is the latest, and hopefully last, Blackhawk to become ill this week. With very little time available for practice between now and the Olympic break, head coach Jeff Blashill used today for an intense practice featuring a lot of one-on-one drills.

Connor Bedard Over the Bug

Connor Bedard missed Monday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers as he fell victim to the dreaded bug making its way through the locker room. The day off on Tuesday appeared to work its magic as the Blackhawks' top star was back with his teammates this morning.

Bedard said he started to feel bad Monday morning, but stayed in bed a little longer and felt good enough to participate in the morning skate. He revealed that after he got off the ice it symptoms got worse and it took him out.

"I tried to kind of get myself up and go, I was trying to get to the game, but it didn't work out, unfortunately,” he said. “It sucks to miss obviously, but it is what it is."

He will play tomorrow night, and though he’s considered the center on the top line, he won’t take faceoffs. That will be left up to Ryan Greene, who has won 46% of his draws this season. Bedard said he isn’t sure when he’ll be allowed back at the faceoff dot, but he said it’s “hopefully soon.”

Teuvo Teravainen Out of the Lineup

Teuvo Teravainen did not come out after the first intermission of Monday’s 4-1 loss to the Oilers. It was easy to assume that he was the latest Blackhawk to become ill. However, after the game, head coach Jeff Blashill confirmed Teravainen suffered an upper-body injury. He was not on the ice for today’s practice.

Blashill confirmed Teravainen will not play against the Flames tomorrow night, but is day-to-day after that. He did not rule him out for Saturday’s game against the Boston Bruins.

With Teravainen out, Ryan Donato was bumped up to the third line with Nick Lardis and Oliver Moore. Here’s how the line rushes looked this morning:

Ryan Greene-Connor Bedard-Andre Burakovsky
Tyler Bertuzzi-Jason Dickinson-Ilya Mikheyev
Ryan Donato-Oliver Moore-Nick Lardis
Nick Foligno-Colton Dach-Landon Slaggert

Alex Vlasic-Louie Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser-Artyom Levshunov
Matt Grzelcyk-Connor Murphy

Frank Nazar Not Practicing Yet

Frank Nazar spent his 22nd birthday taking slap shots on the ice ahead of practice. He still wore the gray non-contact jersey and left the ice before the full-team workout began. Blashill has been saying that Nazar is not as far along in his recovery as Bedard, who returned over the weekend, but he is on the right track.

“He’s still a little bit away, but at least he’s skating, hasn’t been with the team,” Blashill said on Monday. Once he gets back with the team, we’ll have a better idea of the timeline. At least he’s able to stay with it and hopefully get himself so when he does get with the team, he can get back as quickly as possible.”