Preview: Blackhawks at Flyers

BLACKHAWKS (16-6-3) at FLYERS (12-10-3)
1 p.m. ET; NHLN, CSN-PH, WGN, NHL.TV

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Blackhawks team scope

Goaltender Corey Crawford is ill and unavailable for the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. Coach Joel Quenneville said Crawford made the trip from Chicago on Friday but got sick sometime after the team arrived in Philadelphia. Scott Darling will start in goal. To back him up the Blackhawks signed Eric Semborski, 23, to an amateur tryout contract. Semborski played on the club hockey team at Temple University. Rockford, the Blackhawks' American Hockey League affiliate, has a game Saturday at Grand Rapids. Lars Johansson, 29, has a 2.63 goals-against average in 16 games in his first season in North America. Backup Mac Carruth, 24, has a 3.35 GAA in seven games. Neither has played in the NHL. The Blackhawks also will be missing captain Jonathan Toews for a fifth straight game because of what's reportedly a back injury. He was placed on injured reserve Friday retroactive to Nov. 24, the day he was injured. Toews said he could play if it were the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but for now he'll stay out until he's healthy. "[It's] the type of thing that I think most guys would be able to suck up and just go out there and play if it were a playoff game and you're putting everything on the line," he said. "But at this point, with the amount of the games left in the season, it's not something to continuously deal with if you're going to aggravate it and it's going to keep coming back to haunt you."

Flyers team scope

The Philadelphia Flyers enter the weekend with the third-best power play in the NHL (23.6 percent). They have two of the top 10 players in power-play points: center Claude Giroux, who is tied for the NHL lead with 12, and wing Wayne Simmonds, who is tied for sixth with 10. It could be an even more effective weapon against the Blackhawks, who have the League's worst penalty kill (70.1 percent). "In order to be successful against good teams, you have to be able to win the 5-on-5 battle," coach Dave Hakstol said. "But also the specialty-teams battle is a huge part of it and can be the difference in a hockey game. … Our power play is going pretty well. It has been pretty consistently generating offense for us. That needs to continue." Giroux said the Flyers can't take anything for granted. "I think [Chicago's penalty kill] wasn't very good [to] start of the year but they got their stuff together," he said. "They will figure it out. For us it doesn't change the way we're going to have our power play."

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Blackhawks projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Artem Anisimov -- Patrick Kane
Ryan Hartman -- Vinnie Hinostroza -- Marian Hossa
Dennis Rasmussen -- Marcus Kruger -- Richard Panik
Andrew Desjardins -- Nick Schmaltz -- Tyler Motte
Duncan Keith -- Niklas Hjalmarsson
Brian Campbell -- Brent Seabrook
Michal Kempny -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Scott Darling
Eric Semborski
Scratched: Jordin Tootoo, Gustav Forsling, Michal Rozsival
Injured: Jonathan Toews (back), Corey Crawford (illness)

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Flyers projected lineup

Michael Raffl -- Claude Giroux -- Jakub Voracek
Travis Konecny -- Brayden Schenn -- Wayne Simmonds
Matt Read -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Dale Weise
Chris VandeVelde -- Nick Cousins -- Roman Lyubimov
Michael Del Zotto -- Mark Streit
Andrew MacDonald -- Shayne Gostisbehere
Ivan Provorov -- Nick Schultz
Steve Mason
Anthony Stolarz
Scratched: Scott Laughton,Brandon Manning
Injured: Boyd Gordon (upper body), Sean Couturier (lower body), Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Radko Gudas (illness)

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Status report

Toews on Friday would not rule out playing at home against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday. "Just come back and check in [Saturday] and see how it is and hopefully I guess, as they say, re-evaluate for Sunday," he said. Hossa didn't practice Friday but is expected to play Saturday. Van Riemsdyk was activated from injured reserve Friday and will play against the Flyers. It will be his game since Oct. 21 when he sustained an upper-body injury. "He's 100 percent for sure, but his play will dictate how much [ice time he gets]," Quenneville said. … Gudas came down with an illness Saturday. He could be replaced by Schultz, who has been a healthy scratch the past 10 games. Manning, who has missed the past three games because of an upper-body injury, also could be an option. Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said Friday that Manning was cleared to play. Manning took part in an optional practice Friday.

Who's hot

Hossa has 12 goals in 24 games. He had 13 goals in 64 games last season. ... Giroux has three goals and two assists in his past four games.