CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks placed defenseman Connor Murphy on injured reserve Saturday because of a groin injury.
The 31-year-old Murphy hasn’t played since he logged more than 19 1/2 minutes in a 6-2 loss to St. Louis in the Winter Classic on Dec. 31. He has one goal and 12 assists in 38 games this season.
Murphy’s IR stint was made retroactive to the loss to the Blues, and interim coach Anders Sorensen said he didn’t have a timeline for his return.
“It’s longer than a couple days,” he said.
Defenseman Alec Martinez was activated from IR after being sidelined by a neck injury. The 37-year-old Martinez was in the lineup Saturday against Edmonton, replacing Wyatt Kaiser.
Veteran forward Craig Smith missed his second straight game with a back injury. Sorensen described Smith as day to day.
Chicago (14-26-2) had dropped seven of nine going into the matchup with Edmonton.
After the 5-3 loss at Detroit, Sorensen also adjusted his lines for the game against the Oilers. The changes included putting Lukas Reichel, 22, on a line with Frank Nazar and Colton Dach, 22.
Reichel, Nazar and Dach are three of the team’s youngest players. Nazar turns 21 on Tuesday.
“I want to get the young guys together but I also want to move Reichel to the wing,” Sorensen said. “He’s played a lot in the middle here, so want to see if we can get him going that way.”