COLUMBUS, Ohio — Dave Bolland is back on the mend. The pesky Blackhawks center is questionable with a lower-body injury and is expected to miss Thursday’s game against the Blue Jackets.
Bolland was hurt when he blocked a shot minutes into the second period against the Blues in St. Louis on Tuesday. He was able to finish the game after getting looked at by team trainers on the bench and testing his injury during a television break by skating around.
Bolland appeared to take the shot, which was fired by defenseman Ian Cole, near his right ankle. He then struggled to the bench. He played 14:16 and was a minus-1 against the Blues.
Coach Joel Quenneville said after the loss to the Blues that Bolland was OK. But x-rays afterward may have shown otherwise.
Quenneville wouldn’t say much about the injury on Wednesday, only calling Bolland “day-to-day” and “questionable [for the Blue Jackets game]” with a lower-body injury. Bolland has five goals, seven points and minus-2 rating in the first 14 games.
With Bolland not practicing, Marcus Kruger moved up to the third line, centering Bryan Bickell (a scratch on Tuesday) and Michael Frolik (part of the top line against the Blues). The fourth lines consisted of Rostislav Olesz, Jamal Mayers and Andrew Brunette.
“We’ll try it,” Quenneville said. “We’ll see how [Kruger] does. There’s some offense to his game we’ll get a chance to look at.”