The Blackhawks placed goaltender Corey Crawford on injured reserve and recalled Jean-Francois Berube from the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League, the team announced Friday.
It's unclear what Crawford's injury is, but there were a few moments in Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss against the Dallas Stars where he seemed to be laboring a bit.
The first sign came early in the first period when Crawford made a shorthanded save on Mattias Janmark, going from left to right.
But, the shorthanded rush to the net by Janmark in the opening period was the first time where we saw Crawford slow to get up. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/4KSAAshHQq
— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) December 1, 2017
Here's the full extension by Crawford. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/mhzs42j3oF
— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) December 1, 2017
Crawford shrugged it off, so it was hard to think anything of it.
But it became more apparent that something wasn't right in the third period when he had to make a quick reactionary save on Tyler Seguin's redirection with 13:46 left. The Blackhawks netminder was visibly slow to get up.
There was a point in the third period where Corey Crawford was slow to get back on his skates after moving from left to right. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/OfmxMIEJyl
— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) December 1, 2017
And when the play exited the Blackhawks zone, Crawford needed an extra second or two to gather himself.
While the play moved down to the Stars end, Crawford leaned on his leg to get back up. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/CQ4OH48of4
— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) December 1, 2017
Whether or not this is related to what forced him to land on injured reserve, it's a crucial blow for the Blackhawks who are fighting for a wild card spot in the Western Conference and will be without arguably their most important player for the next week, at least.
Berube, 26, is 6-6-0 with a 2.54 goals against average, .913 save percentage and two shutouts in 12 appearances this season for the IceHogs.