Jonathan Toews out again, injury ‘not getting better’

CHICAGO – Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews sat out his sixth straight game on Sunday night against the Winnipeg Jets with an upper-body injury that coach Joel Quenneville is “not getting better.”

Quenneville said Toews skated briefly Sunday morning, but he plans to “keep him off the ice for a few days and get a better assessment in the middle of the week or so.”

Quenneville said he didn’t believe Toews’ injury, reportedly in his back, was something the 28-year-old center has experienced before. Toews has four goals and eight assists in 21 games and is Chicago’s best faceoff man.

Winnipeg’s leading scorer, center Mark Scheifele, missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. He participated in the Jets’ game-day skate before their 3-2 overtime win at St. Louis on Saturday night, but didn’t play in the contest.

Scheifele has 13 goals and 13 assists in 26 games.

Goaltender Lars Johansson, recalled by the Blackhawks earlier on Sunday from Rockford of the American Hockey League, was in Chicago’s lineup. The 29-year-old Johansson will back up Scott Darling while regular starter Corey Crawford recovers from an emergency appendectomy in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Crawford, who is 12-6-2 with a 2.27 goals-against average, is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks. He returned to Chicago with the Blackhawks on Saturday following a 3-1 loss to the Flyers.

Johansson is 6-7-1 with a 2.63 GAA in 16 games with Rockford.

To make room for Johansson, the Blackhawks assigned rookie forward Nick Schmaltz to the IceHogs. The 20-year-old Schmaltz, a first-round pick in the 2014 draft, has a goal and three assists in 26 games with the Blackhawks.