After a disappointing start to the season with the loss to the St. Louis Blues on opening night for the league the Chicago Blackhawks will be seeing the return of defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson.
Hjalmarsson, 29, was unable to suit up for the Blackhawks earlier this week due to serving out the remainder of a suspension for a high hit during the preseason match up with the Blues (he was fined and suspended for the rest of the preseason schedule along with game one of the regular season).
Chicago fell 5-2 in the opener and now look to rebound. Part of the rebound is fitting Hjalmarsson back into the clubs line up. The penalty kill specialist left a hole in the unit as three of the goals allowed came while the Blackhawks were on the penalty kill.
Players that could see themselves sitting tonight as Chicago is set to take on the Nashville Predators this evening include: Michal Kempny, Gustav Forsling, or even Trevor van Riemsdyk.
With Riemsdyk being the veteran out of the options with 100+ NHL games, his performance on Wednesday of being assessed four penalty minutes, ending the game a minus-1 and having 23 shifts within 16:06 minutes of ice time the 25-year old defender could be the odd man out.
Kempny, 26, has impressed many over training camp and made his NHL debut in Wednesday night’s loss. The Czech blue liner ended the game a minus-2 but had more shifts and time on ice than Riemsdyk with 24 shifts over 18:44 minutes.
Forsling, 20, also made his NHL debut in the game and while held off the scoreboard he had 20 shifts in 15:29 and registered a shot and no penalty time.
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