Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno to return vs Penguins, Frank Nazar added to IR

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CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks activated captain and center Nick Foligno before Sunday night's game against Pittsburgh and placed center Frank Nazar on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 20.

Foligno has missed 19 games with a left hand injury, suffered when he was struck by a shot in a 3-2 home win over Toronto on Nov. 15. Nazar was hit in the face with a shot by Senators defenseman Jordan Spence in a 6-4 loss at Ottawa on Dec. 20 and is expected to miss another three weeks.

The 38-year-old Foligno has no goals and six assists in 15 games this season, his 19th in the NHL. He leads the Blackhawks with a 51.8 faceoff win percentage.

Nazar, 21, is in his second full NHL season and has been emerging as one of Chicago's young stars. The Detroit native, drafted 13th overall in 2022, has six goals and 15 assists in 33 games to rank fourth on the Blackhawks with 21 points.

Blackhawks forward Ilya Mikheyev will miss a second game Sunday, following the birth of his daughter. Chicago leading scorer Connor Bedard remains sidelined until at least early January with an upper-body injury.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL