Blue Jackets get Murray back, but lose Foligno

COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Blue Jackets welcome rookie defenseman Ryan Murray back to the lineup Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks but have lost left wing Nick Foligno to injury for the rest of the regular season.

Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said after the optional morning skate he hopes Foligno, injured late in the 2-0 win Thursday at the Philadelphia Flyers after a collision with Flyers forward Scott Hartnell, will be ready if Columbus makes the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The injury happened the same night Marcus Foligno's of the Buffalo Sabres, Nick's younger brother, sustaned a knee injury against the St. Louis Blues that will keep him out the final week of the season.

Richards replaces Foligno (18 goals and 21 assists in 70 games) with forward Matt Frattin, who was acquired at the March 5 NHL Trade Deadline from the Los Angeles Kings for forward Marian Gaborik.

He has played two of 14 games since the trade and been a healthy scratch in the past 10 games since March 13. Frattin has no points with the Blue Jackets and has four goals and six points in 42 games overall.

Foligno's injury is the second to a forward this week; Nathan Horton (lower body) will sit a third consecutive game.

"We're almost in the same situation we were in earlier this year when we were missing guys on the wing," Richards said, adding that center Brandon Dubinsky might move to the wing.

The news is better on the defensive end with Murray scheduled to play for the first time since injuring his knee March 3 vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs. He underwent arthroscopic surgery four days later and was expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

"The stakes are so high right now it's fun to be in these types of games," Murray said. "We've got six games left in a tight playoff race. Who wouldn't want to play in that?"

Murray has three goals and 17 assists and is plus-3 in 61 games.

"He's a big part of this team, a big reason we've had success," Richards said.

Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky will start for Columbus (39-30-7) after making 37 saves vs. the Flyers. Chicago backup goalie Antti Raanta may start.

Corey Crawford made 25 saves when the Blackhawks (43-19-15) ended a three-game losing streak Thursday with a 3-2 shootout win against the Minnesota Wild despite not having captain Jonathan Toews (upper body) and right wing Patrick Kane (lower body). They will miss the remainder of the regular season.

Defenseman Johnny Oduya (lower body) is not expected to play after being a late scratch Thursday, but defenseman Michal Rozsival (lower body) likely will play after being out nine games.

The Blue Jackets are one point behind the Detroit Red Wings for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and two back of the Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division and an automatic berth.

Chicago is three points behind the second-place Colorado Avalanche in the Central Division.

Here are the projected lineups:

BLACKHAWKS

Patrick Sharp - Andrew Shaw - Marian Hossa

Brandon Saad - Joakim Nordstrom - Kris Versteeg

Bryan Bickell - Peter Regin - Jeremy Morin

Brandon Bollig - Marcus Kruger - Ben Smith

Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook

Michal Rozsival - Niklas Hjalmarsson

Nick Leddy - Sheldon Brookbank

Antti Raanta

Corey Crawford

Scratched: Teuvo Teravainen, Matt Carey, Michal Handzus, David Rundblad

Injured: Jonathan Toews (upper body), Patrick Kane (lower body), Nikolai Khabibulin (rotator cuff surgery), Johnny Oduya (lower body)

BLUE JACKETS

Boone Jenner - Ryan Johansen - Brandon Dubinsky

Matt Calvert - Mark Letestu - Cam Atkinson

Blake Comeau - Artem Anisimov - RJ Umberger

Matt Frattin - Derek MacKenzie - Jared Boll

Ryan Murray - James Wisniewski

Jack Johnson - Fedor Tyutin

Dalton Prout - David Savard

Sergei Bobrovsky

Curtis McElhinney

Scratched: Corey Tropp, Tim Erixon

Injured: Nathan Horton (lower body), Nikita Nikitin (lower body), Nick Foligno (lower body)