BUFFALO, N.Y. — Jack Johnson’s ice time exceeded 20 minutes more often during the Blackhawks’ first seven games this season (six times) than it had over Johnson’s last two seasons combined (five times).
The 35-year-old veteran defenseman enjoyed that. For the first time in a while, he wasn’t getting stiff on the bench and feeling like he needed to “warm up” at the start of each shift.
But that workload and usage probably wasn’t sustainable for either Johnson, at this late stage of his career, or the Hawks. And with Jake McCabe having worked his way back to full fitness, coach Luke Richardson felt ready Saturday to promote McCabe to the first pairing alongside Seth Jones.
“He looks confident [and] he’s playing with a great gap,” Richardson said about McCabe. “It’s just time to progress his minutes and his responsibility. He’s been really good since he’s been back and he’s getting better every game.”
Johnson settled into the third pairing next to Caleb Jones — the spot McCabe had occupied since returning from back surgery in the Hawks’ fourth game — while the second pairing of Connor Murphy and Jarred Tinordi remained unchanged.
McCabe has played well so far this season — aside from one lowlight Thursday against Connor McDavid — and earned the bigger role. Entering Saturday, he led Hawks defensemen in terms of both expected-goals-against rate and expected-goals ratio at five-on-five.
“For the most part, I’ve liked my game,” McCabe said Thursday. “I’ve been pretty steady, defending well, making simple plays [and] trying to make my partner’s life easy.”
Lighter Stalock
Hawks goalie Alex Stalock sweats a lot.
Drops of liquid pour off his hair, forehead and chin after he leaves the ice as if he was just caught in a thunderstorm, requiring him to keep a towel on hand to regularly dry off his face. He has to drink “quite a bit” of water to stay hydrated.
But he has been pleased with how his conditioning and endurance have held up so far. He believes entering this fall at the lowest weight of his NHL career has helped.
“As anybody knows, when you’re not doing anything, you can’t get your heart rate up [and] stuff adds up,” he said. “All of a sudden, [when] you get thrown back into the mix, you’re not where you want to be physically.
“They gave me an opportunity here [and I] wanted to come in and give myself the best chance. I got into the best shape I could, and obviously it’s paying off. I feel great at 35 years old.”
Stalock will make his fifth start Sunday against the Wild after a day off Saturday during Arvid Soderblom’s start.
Katchouk debuts
Hawks forward Boris Katchouk will make his season debut Saturday after four weeks sidelined by a sprained ankle.
“Four weeks doesn’t sound too long, but when it actually happens, it’s pretty long,” he said pregame. “I’m pretty hungry to get back in there.”
The 24-year-old winger, acquired from the Lightning in the Brandon Hagel trade, hasn’t found his Hawks niche as quickly as counterpart Taylor Raddysh has. He tallied just one point in 21 games at the end of last season, although hits — of which he had 40 — might be a better way to quantify his playing style.
Richardson said he wants Katchouk to focus on crashing the crease, noting that “shots on the net and a big body going to the net” is usually a good combination.
