Blackhawks place Bickell on IR, call up Simpson

Chicago Blackhawks forward Bryan Bickell was placed on injured reserve Monday with a lower-body injury and goalie Kent Simpson was recalled from the team's American Hockey League affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.

Bickell, who was placed on IR retroactive to Nov. 19, has five goals and six points in 22 games.

Simpson is 6-7-0 with a 3.38 goals-against average and .900 save percentage in 15 AHL games. He made a season-high 49 saves on a season-high 51 shots Oct. 5 at San Antonio. He was chosen in the second round (No. 58) in the 2010 NHL Draft.

Blackhawks starting goalie Corey Crawford was forced to leave the first period of his team's 6-2 win against the Florida Panthers with a lower-body injury. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said the injury to Crawford doesn't appear to be serious, but with regular backup Nikolai Khabibulin out with a lower-body injury, Antti Raanta replaced Crawford Sunday and likely will start Tuesday against the Dallas Stars, with Simpson dressed as the backup.