Not a moment too soon, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews will be back in action tonight as the Blackhawks take the ice in Los Angeles against the Kings.
Toews, who hurt his shoulder crashing into the boards against the Blues last Tuesday night, was originally feared out for up to two weeks. Instead, he has missed only two games, and the Hawks could use him, as they dropped both of those, and in fact have lost three straight to fall into last place in the Central division.
Last place is only two points out of second place, but the Hawks currently rank 11th in the Western Conference, at the bottom on an eight-team scrum spread from 43 to 47 points. Even a short winning streak would get the Hawks back toward a playoff spot and a good seeding. But they had better start soon. Presuming Toews is now healthy and ready to go 100%, the Hawks are once again back to full health. The game in which Toews got hurt was the game where Patrick Kane returned -- so the Hawks have been at full health for less than one period this year.
Corey Crawford will get the start in goal tonight.
The game begins at 8 p.m. CST and will be televised on Versus (only -- no local TV).