CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks placed center and burgeoning star Frank Nazar on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 20.
The move was made prior to the team’s 7-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday night, and with the roster spot, Chicago activated captain Nick Foligno. The veteran center scored his first goal of the season and closed his night with three shots on goal.
It wasn’t nearly enough to help the struggling Blackhawks, who watched the Penguins score on four of their first seven shots against Spencer Knight.
The 38-year-old Foligno seemed like his old self after missing 19 games with a left hand injury. But last-place Chicago came out flat a night after snapping a six-game losing streak in Dallas with a shootout win and lost for the ninth time in its last 11 (2-9-0).
Nazar, 21, is in his second full NHL season and has been emerging as one of Chicago’s young stars. The Detroit native, drafted 13th overall in 2022, has six goals and 15 assists in 33 games to rank fourth on the Blackhawks with 21 points.
The injury compounds matters for a team struggling into the new year. Blackhawks forward Ilya Mikheyev missed a second game Sunday, following the birth of his daughter. And Chicago leading scorer Connor Bedard remains sidelined until at least early January with an upper-body injury.
Foligno has one goal and six assists in 16 games this season, his 19th in the NHL. He entered leading the Blackhawks with a 51.8 faceoff win percentage.
“I thought Fliggy played pretty good to be honest with you for a guy who missed significant time,” Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. “He’s just a really smart, strong player. He just knows how to play hockey. That’s why he’s played for such a long period of time.”
Foligno got Chicago on the board at 10:50 of the second period, cutting the Penguins lead to 4-1. Foligno was at the edge of crease when Colton Dach‘s shot struck him in the stomach. The puck dropped and Foligno flicked it between his legs with a backhander and past goalie Arturs Silovs.
It didn’t swing the momentum, however. Justin Brazeau scored his second and third goals of the game for his first NHL hat trick minutes later to put the contest out of reach.
“I feel good,” Foligno said. “You just try to come back and make an impact. It stinks to be in a game like that tonight to be honest with you. You get amped to get back and then it kind of goes south really quick.
“I could care less about that (the goal).”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
