With two days until their next game, the Chicago Blackhawks will use Monday and Tuesday to practice and prepare for the red-hot Minnesota Wild coming to town. The team could certainly use it, as they are in the midst of a three-game losing streak after falling 1-0 to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night.
While it’s the third three-game losing skid of the season for Chicago, it’s the first time they’ve lost three consecutive games in regulation. Friday’s performance against the Buffalo Sabres was flat-out embarrassing, but the other two defeats came in close contests that weren’t too far away from being victories. Still, there are things that head coach Jeff Blashill wants to clean up ahead of the Central Division matchup with Minnesota on Wednesday.
Burakovsky Day-To-Day
Before Monday’s practice began at Fifth Third Arena, forward Andre Burakovsky was spotted wearing a grey non-contact sweater while skating on his own on the west ice surface. Burakovsky was getting some work in with skills coach Brian Keane before exiting the ice as the session started.
Burakovsky has missed the Blackhawks’ last two contests with an undisclosed injury after taking a hit to the head from Seattle Kraken defenseman Ryan Lindgren in Thursday’s game. The team’s third-leading scorer didn’t play on Friday in Buffalo and was also out against the Avalanche, whom he helped win a Stanley Cup in 2022.
While Blashill didn’t provide an answer on whether Burakovsky will return against the Wild, he did offer a slight update on his status.
“He’s still day to day,” Blashill said after practice. “I’ll probably know more tomorrow, and we’ll go from there. But he’s progressing.”
Brossoit Skates Again
Another player who was seen skating on Monday was goaltender Laurent Brossoit, and he actually participated in one drill in the latter stages of the session. Brossoit is currently in his second year under contract with the Blackhawks, but he’s yet to make his team debut because of multiple injuries.
It’s been a difficult last 15 months for the 32-year-old goaltender. After undergoing surgery on his meniscus in August 2024, Brossoit then needed a follow-up Arthroscopic procedure on his right knee in November of the same year. This past offseason, Brossoit had hip surgery in August and was considered to be out long-term.
But over the last few weeks, Brossoit has slowly returned to practice and been integrated with the Blackhawks for the first time. He didn’t participate in a single on-ice practice during the 2024-25 regular season. There’s still a long way to go for Brossoit to return to game action, but it’s terrific to see him healthy enough to skate in some capacity at Fifth Third Arena.
“We’re trying to get him integrated into some more real-type situations,” Blashill said. “We’ll continue to do that as we go.”
Blashill was also asked about a specific timeline for Brossoit’s return, which he didn’t offer much insight on.
“Let’s take that when it comes. Right now, let’s get him to where he’s healthy and ready to go.”
Veteran Maintenance Days
With the Blackhawks playing four games in six days, it wasn’t surprising to see a couple of veterans miss Monday’s practice due to maintenance.
Teuvo Teravainen and Matt Grzelcyk, who’ve both played in all 22 games so far this season, didn’t participate in practice. However, there’s no concern about either missing Wednesday’s tilt against the Wild.
“I think they are fine, just maintenance days,” Blashill said. “Taking care of a couple of things. I anticipate both in the lineup on Wednesday.”
It will be interesting to see precisely where Teravainen slots into the lineup versus Minnesota, as he’s bounced between the second and third lines in recent games. Last time out against Colorado, Teravainen skated on the second line with Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore.
But if Burakovsky is healthy enough to return, Teravainen could be moved down to the third line again as a result. It all depends on how Blashill wants to structure his lineup, but last time that Tyler Bertuzzi and Burakovsky both played, they were on separate lines in the top six.
We’ll likely get a better indication of Wednesday’s projected forward lines during Tuesday’s practice session.
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