Blackhawks put Artem Anisimov on injured reserve

The Chicago Blackhawks will welcome goalie Corey Crawford back to the lineup on Friday, but they won't have center Artem Anisimov or winger Marian Hossa.

Anisimov, who has 14 goals and 13 assists playing mostly on the line with Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin, was placed on injured reserve Thursday, retroactive to Dec. 18. He suffered an upper-body injury during Saturday night's 6-4 victory at St. Louis.

Crawford is returning from having an emergency appendectomy in Philadelphia on Dec. 3. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said Thursday that Crawford will be between the pipes on Friday.

Scott Darling has started every game since Crawford's operation, going 6-2-1 with a .938 save percentage during that stretch.

Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews was often at center between Kane and Panarin in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to Ottawa. Toews had mostly centered Hossa and Ryan Hartman this season.

Hossa, 37, played only five shifts and less than three minutes Tuesday before leaving the ice at the end of the first period with what the team later called an upper-body injury. He is out Friday, but Quenneville said that he hopes both he and Anisimov can return after Christmas.

Hossa has been one of the leaders of the Blackhawks' offense, with 16 goals and seven assists in 32 games this season.

To fill Anisimov's roster spot, the Blackhawks called up forward Tanner Kero from Rockford of the AHL. The 24-year-old led the IceHogs with 20 points. He had a goal and two assists in 17 games for Chicago last season.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.