For the third time this season, the Blackhawks found themselves in a potential emergency goaltender situation on Saturday after Arvid Soderblom was ruled out after the second period. He stopped the first 19 shots he faced before giving up three goals on the next five shots and exiting.
"I actually don't know his status," Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson told reporters following a 4-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre. "The trainer came in after the second period and just said he wasn't feeling good. It's definitely concerning with our goalie injuries at this point, but hopefully he's not too bad."
The Blackhawks were forced to turn to their fifth-string goaltender Dylan Wells, who signed an NHL contract earlier this week because of Chicago's injury issues. He was previously on an AHL contract with the Rockford IceHogs and started the season in the ECHL with the Indy Fuel.
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Wells played the entire third period and turned aside 12 of 13 shots for a save percentage of .923 in a relief appearance. It was his NHL debut and he looked pretty comfortable.
"He was great," Richardson said. "He's been smiling on his face the last few days being here. Unfortunately, he went into a tough situation and we gave up a tough opportunity on the power play for Winnipeg that he really didn't have a chance on. But other than that, I thought he stood strong. He looked confident standing in the crease, so it was a good start for him. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good finish for us."
The Blackhawks aren't even a month into the season and they are down to their fifth-string goaltender with Petr Mrazek (groin), Alex Stalock (concussion protocol), Jaxson Stauber (concussion protocol) and Soderblom all out. They've already used four goaltenders in 12 games this season, which is wild.
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The good news is, the Blackhawks don't play again until Thursday and Mrazek has been practicing for almost a week now. He's expected to be ready for that two-game West Coast trip, barring any setbacks.
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