Chicago Blackhawks forward Taylor Hall is aiming to return to the lineup on Saturday after missing the last two weeks with a left shoulder injury.
"I felt good today, I just have to talk to the medical staff and see what we want to do," Hall said after Friday's practice. "There's a good chance that I'm in tomorrow but I could also not play, I've just got to see how they're feeling and give them my thoughts on how I felt today.
"I just want to make sure that everything's checked off. I certainly don't want to have this happen again, a second and a third time. I just want to make sure everything's good."
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson is hoping Hall will be cleared to go as well.
"We’re hoping he’s available tomorrow," Richardson said. "Today, full practice which is great, so we’ll let him settle and see how he feels from that."
The Blackhawks want to be extra cautious with Hall, who admittedly rushed back the first time after originally suffering the shoulder injury in Boston the second game of the season. He said he feels "a lot better" than he did the last time around when he was getting ready to return.
"I just thought that at that moment, the shoulder would just get better day by day and it didn't," Hall said. "It just probably needed some time. It's not the medical staff's fault, it's my fault for just trying to play, maybe just being on a new team and trying to do your best for the guys in here.
Chicago Blackhawks
"I probably could've used a couple extra games off and I wouldn't be in this spot now, but that's the way it goes. That's sports. Sometimes you try and play through the things it works out and sometimes it doesn't."
Hall practiced with the team in full on Friday and skated on the third line with Jason Dickinson and Tyler Johnson, in part so Connor Bedard's chemistry isn't disrupted with Nick Foligno and Philipp Kurashev. He also took reps on the first power-play unit, rotating in and out with Kurashev.
"He looked excellent out there, especially on the power play today in practice," Richardson said. "He’s so strong at protecting the puck and retrieving pucks, and nobody’s really shooting one-timers a whole lot in practice because we have our own team on the other side. But it’s just a natural place, that’s where he should be.
"If he’s going to be in the lineup, he’s definitely going to be on the power play. I talked to Kurshy, depending on a long shift before a power play and there’s no time out, he may go in there or be on that same spot on the second unit. He was totally fine with that."
Hall acknowledged the value in watching things from afar while he was out of the lineup. He hopes to apply what he learned, especially on the power play.
"When I watch games, especially if I watch them from up top in the press box, it's amazing how much more happens when you get pucks to the net," Hall said. "Every time the puck goes to the net and there's a rebound, the crowd is into it, there's a scrum, the other players are in bad spots.
"It's not basketball where you make the extra pass and you get a better shot; it's the opposite here. Whenever I come back from an injury, I'm always like: 'Just get it to the net whenever in doubt.' Try to attack the net and good things will happen."