MONTREAL — Chicago Blackhawks forward Taylor Hall appears to already be ahead of schedule after suffering an upper-body injury in the second period of Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins that sidelined him for the rest of the game.
After originally being listed as week-to-week, his status is now looking more like it's day-to-day, according to Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson. Hall didn’t participate with the team in practice on Friday, but he did skate on his own, which was an encouraging sign.
“He told us he was a miracle fast healer," Richardson said. "I didn't know what that meant, but surprised to see him on the ice this early. He said he feels better. We just want to let him settle down for a day or two and see how that looks tomorrow."
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Hall will not play on Saturday in Montreal, but if he continues to progress, it seems possible that he could return before the road trip ends. Taylor Raddysh took his spot on the top line with Connor Bedard and Ryan Donato, and Lukas Reichel will step into his role on the first power-play unit.
The Blackhawks did not like the hit from Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo that injured Hall.
"That's a blindside hit," Richardson said. "That's a guy coming across the ice, for sure. That's what the game is trying to get rid of. I know exactly what it is because I used to do it all the time. But now it's not in the game. So we just hope that there's not a lot of those there that we see because they're not great for anybody."