Chicago Blackhawks lose Jason Dickinson to leg injury

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CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks lost one of their best all-around players when Jason Dickinson departed Wednesday night's game against Edmonton with a left leg injury.

Dickinson's leg got pinned underneath him after he collided with Oilers forward Vasily Podkolzin early in the second period of Chicago's 4-3 overtime loss. Dickinson had a boot on his lower left leg as he left the locker room after the game.

The 29-year-old Dickinson has seven goals and nine assists in 53 games in his third season with the Blackhawks. Dickinson, who had a career-high 22 goals last year, also is one of the team's best penalty killers.

Interim coach Anders Sorensen said the team would have an update on Thursday, but it doesn't look good.

“He's valuable for us, right?” Sorensen said. “He does a lot of PK and a lot of faceoffs, tough matchups. But I thought a lot of guys stepped up after his absence here, when he got hurt.”

The last-place Blackhawks dropped to 4-12-4 in their last 20 games.

While Dickinson departed with his injury, Craig Smith skated for more than 11 minutes in his first game since Jan. 8. The forward was activated from injured reserve after being sidelined by a nagging back injury.

The 35-year-old Smith has six goals and five assists in 31 games in his first season with Chicago.

The Blackhawks also assigned defenseman Artyom Levshunov and forward Colton Dach to Rockford of the American Hockey League.

The 19-year-old Levshunov was brought up on Monday to give him a chance to practice with the team during the AHL’s All-Star break. The IceHogs’ next game is Friday night at Texas.

Levshunov was the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s NHL draft. He missed the start of the season because of a fractured right foot.

“We’ve had two good, spirited practices with a lot of pace and compete and that was a good learning experience for him to see,” Sorensen said. “Talking to him, he was kind of baffled how quick it was at times but that’s good. That’s how you realize where you need to be.”

The 22-year-old Dach made his NHL debut on Jan. 3 against Montreal. The 6-foot-4 forward, a second-round pick in the 2021 draft, had one goal and three assists in 13 games with Chicago.

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