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UPDATE ON SHARP INJURY, 9:49AM Eastern:

Heard from a source this morning that Sharp has a grade 2 shoulder separation and could miss 3-6 weeks, depending on the results of an MRI. This is not confirmed by the team.

The Blackhawks did it again.

Yet another win. Yet another one-goal win. Yet another one goal win decided by a dramatic late goal. Yet another record: Ray Emery is the first goalie in NHL history to start the season 10-0-0.

But this one was different. In this game, the Hawks' ranks of healthy forwards seemed to dwindle with every drop of the puck. Well, even before the puck dropped, Marian Hossa was scratched with an "upper body" injury, believed (hoped actually) to be the flu bug that had already sidelined Michal Frolik.

Before the night would end, Andrew Shaw (possible concussion due to a Paul Stastny elbow) and Patrick Sharp (possible shoulder separation) would exit.

And all this after Brandon Bollig was sent down to Rockford earlier in the efternoon.

A little more on the game before diving back into the injuries and their repercussions.

The Avs played a good game and might even have deserved to win. And this morning Avs fans are pointing to a non-call on a Dave Bolland slash that allowed Jonathan Toews to score the short-handed game-tying goal. They have a legitimate beef. That said, calls get missed every game and throughout every game and the Avs got away with at least one or two last night as well.

What can't be taken back were the drama and sheer effort behind Dan Carcillo's late goal, which turned out to be the game-winner. You have to feel good for Carcillo, who somewhere along the line has earned the somehow fitting nickname "Gorilla Salad." But the real hero of that play was center Marcus Kruger, who won a board battle against a bigger Av opponent and made a quick backhand dish to Viktor Stalberg for the shot that setup Carcillo.

Now back to the forwards. By the end of the night, the depth chart looked something like this:

Saad Toews
Bolland Kane
Bickell Stalberg Carcillo
Mayers Kruger Brookbank


Huh? Wha?

So, venturing a bit down the road of conjecture, I'm going to work on the assumption that Frolik and Hossa are back soon (Joel Quenneville said as much last night). For the sake of this discussion, assume no other moves are made, except Sheldon Brookbank goes back to where he belongs: defense. Then the lineup looks like:

Saad Toews Hossa
Carcillo Bolland Kane
Bickell Kruger Stalberg
Frolik Mayers

It's hard to say how long Shaw will be out. Let's assume 2-3 games. But you're down a third line center. But you have three guys on the fourth line who can play "center," and one who can be your third line center for a little while: Kruger. In fact, Kruger is probably a "good" third line center for most teams in the NHL.

So basically, you have a vacancy on the fourth line (and in the press box), which could (and likely will) be filled by pick an Ice Hog: Bollig or Jimmy Hayes, Ben Smith or Jeremy Morin.

Brookbank or the recently activated Steve Montador could be your 13th forward, or the Hawks could call up 2 Hogs. If it were me, I'd go with Smith and Hayes or Morin, as Smith can play all three forward positions.

So the Hawks' depth will be tested, but they started the night with the best depth in the league. And barring further injuries in the short-term, they should be OK.

Finally, a salute to Emery and the Hawk defense. It's great to see Emery's hard work and dedication rewarded, and if you want an early candidate for the Masterton Trophy, look no further. But, as I've said often this year, the real heroes in net for the Hawks are the guys in front of it: the defense. And to be clear, the defense played by the entire club up and down the ice.

I'll be back tomorrow with a GameDay blog for the Hawks' visit to Denver.

All for now,



JJ

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