At the Rink: Blackhawks at Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad will return to the lineup Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks (7:30 p.m. ET; CSN-CH, FS-F).

Ekblad had missed the previous four games because of a concussion sustained Jan. 10 against the Edmonton Oilers. He has nine goals, 19 points and a Panthers-best plus-17 in 42 games. He averages 20:42 of ice time per game, second on the Panthers.

"I feel great," Ekblad said after morning skate. "I'm really, really, really happy to be back in the lineup. Sitting and watching games has got to be the worst thing for a hockey player. I absolutely hate it, especially when the team is losing there. I'm really happy to be back in the lineup and hopefully create something.

"It was tough to be out. Obviously I wanted to be in and help ride that winning streak, but it's the way it is. You obviously are going to lose games and it's all about bouncing back here today. That past winning streak means nothing to us anymore and what happens in the future is what matters."

Ekblad's injury occurred in the final game of the Panthers' franchise-record 12-game winning streak. They went 0-3-1 with Ekblad out of the lineup.

While Ekblad will be back, the Panthers (26-15-5) placed defenseman Willie Mitchell on injured reserve because of a lower-body injury.

Defenseman Dylan Olsen was recalled from Portland of the American Hockey League on Friday on an emergency basis.

The Panthers are hoping Ekblad's return can help revive a power play that's gone 0-for-22 in the past eight games.

"We switched it up a little bit," Ekblad said. "We're just trying to create different looks from different guys and trying new guys. It hasn't been working well. And anytime you change things up it's bound to create some sort of effect."

The Panthers haven't played since Monday when they sustained a 4-2 loss to the Oilers.

After a day off, the Panthers practiced Wednesday and Thursday.

"I think we needed to regroup a little bit, kind of think about what was going on," center Nick Bjugstad said. "We had a great streak but we're down a little bit right now. The spirits aren't down; we just needed to tweak a few things and go over stuff like the power play and some other minor stuff. That's what makes the difference in the game, the little things.”

The Blackhawks (32-14-4) did not have a morning skate Friday, one day after their franchise-record 12-game win streak was ended in a 2-1 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Forward Jiri Sekac, acquired Thursday in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks for forward Ryan Garbutt, is expected to play Friday. Sekac did not play Thursday.

Chicago has won its past eight games against Florida, including a 3-2 victory at United Center on Oct. 22. Patrick Kane and Brent Seabrook each had a goal and two assists, and Artem Anisimov had a goal. Vincent Trocheck and Jaromir Jagr scored for Florida.

Here are the projected lineups:

BLACKHAWKS

Marian Hossa - Jonathan Toews - Andrew Shaw

Artemi Panarin - Artem Anisimov - Patrick Kane

Andrew Desjardins - Phillip Danault - Teuvo Teravainen

Brandon Mashinter - Dennis Rasmussen - Jiri Sekac

Duncan Keith - Niklas Hjalmarsson

Trevor van Riemsdyk - Brent Seabrook

Erik Gustafsson - Michal Rozsival

Scott Darling

Corey Crawford

Injured: Marcus Kruger (wrist)

Scratched: Richard Panik, Rob Scuderi

PANTHERS

Jonathan Huberdeau - Aleksander Barkov - Jaromir Jagr

Jussi Jokinen - Nick Bjugstad - Reilly Smith

Quinton Howden - Vincent Trocheck - Logan Shaw

Corban Knight - Derek MacKenzie - Shawn Thornton

Brian Campbell - Erik Gudbranson

Steven Kampfer - Aaron Ekblad

Dmitry Kulikov - Alex Petrovic

Roberto Luongo

Al Montoya

Injured: Willie Mitchell (lower body), Dave Bolland (lower body)

Scratched: Brandon Pirri

Status report: Pirri, who has two goals in the past 14 games, will be a healthy scratch for the first time this season. "He's a goal scorer," Gallant said. "You want to have those guys in your lineup. But over the last while he hasn't scored and he hasn't competed the way we wanted him to. We'll give him a night off tonight and we'll see what happens tomorrow." ... Gallant said he didn't think Mitchell's injury was serious and didn't rule out the possibility the Panthers captain could play Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. … Gudbranson will be in the lineup despite leaving the game against Edmonton on Monday in the second period because of a back injury. … It's unknown whether Panik, acquired Jan. 3 in a trade with Toronto, will get back into the lineup. Panik overslept Thursday and missed the morning skate, and coach Joel Quenneville made him a healthy scratch.

Who's hot: Kane has five goals and four assists in the past four games. His League-best 72 points are 15 points more than anyone else in the League. … Panarin has five goals and six assists in the past 10 games. … Luongo has a .928 career save percentage in 33 games against the Blackhawks, higher than his career mark of .919. ... Barkov has 10 points in the past 11 games.