CHICAGO — Petr Mrazek was placed on injured reserve by the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday after he sustained a groin injury in the first period of a 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.
After Mrazek made his fourth save of the game, play was stopped and he went to the Blackhawks locker room at 10:46 of the first period.
“He’ll be out for a little bit,” said Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen, who replaced Luke Richardson on Thursday.
Arvid Soderblom replaced Mrazek, making 21 saves on 24 shots.
“Obviously not the optimal way to start the game,” Sorensen said. “I thought ‘Sody’ came in and played well, but Petr’s been such a big part of what’s going on here. Hopefully it’s not too long.”
Goalie Drew Commesso and defenseman Kevin Korchinski were recalled from Rockford of the American Hockey League on Sunday.
Mrazek has been a workhorse for Chicago, making his 20th start on Saturday. He is 7-11-1 with a 2.83 goals-against average and .906 save percentage.
He was expected to split time this season with Laurent Brossoit, who signed a two-year, $6.6 million contract ($3.3 million average annual value) with the Blackhawks on July 1.
But Brossoit, who had surgery on the meniscus in his right knee on Aug. 27 and was expected to need 5-7 weeks to recover, had a follow-up arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Nov. 26. He will be reevaluated in about five weeks.
A fifth-round pick (No. 141) by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2010 NHL Draft, Mrazek is 175-166-39 with a 2.80 GAA, .907 save percentage and 25 shutouts in 409 games (378 starts) for the Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs and Blackhawks. He is 12-15 with a 2.43 GAA, .911 save percentage and five shutouts in 29 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
When Mrazek was acquired by the Blackhawks in a trade with the Maple Leafs on July 7, 2022, he was coming off a season when injuries limited him to 20 games (18 starts) with Toronto in 2021-22. Mrazek was healthy last season and played 56 games (53 starts).
“You never want to see anybody get hurt,” Blackhawks center Jason Dickinson said, “but Petr has been playing stellar for us, so we hope that it’s nothing serious and it is maybe just a day or two, calm down and he’ll be good to go.”
Soderblom is 1-6-1 with a 2.60 GAA and .915 save percentage in eight games (seven starts) this season.
“But Sody played great coming in (Saturday),” Dickinson said. “There’s no fear with him coming in the net right now. He’s playing great, so whichever one of them is handling the net for us, we feel good moving forward.”
Commesso is 4-6-0 with a 3.34 GAA and .879 save percentage in 10 AHL games.
Defenseman Alec Martinez was also being evaluated after getting injured against the Jets. He left the game after a shot from Winnipeg center Adam Lowry rode up Martinez’s stick and hit him around the right side of his chin at 1:15 of the third period.
Martinez has four points (one goal, three assists) in 15 games this season.
“We just want to make sure,” Sorensen said of Martinez. “He might miss some time, but we’ll see.”
Korchinski has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in 21 AHL games this season. The 20-year-old was a first-round pick (No. 7) at the 2022 NHL Draft.
