Bowen Byram Is Not Cleared Yet: Chicago's Defenseman Sees a Specialist and Misses an Eighth Straight Game Against Colorado

The Chicago Blackhawks will face the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night without Bowen Byram for an eighth straight game, and the morning skate replaced a weekend of optimistic reports with a plainer status. Byram, out since October 14 with an upper-body injury, was absent from the skate, and head coach Jeff Blashill said the defenseman is seeing a specialist to try to get him over the 'last hurdle' — and that he is not medically cleared to play yet, contrary to reports that had circulated on the team's own broadcast over the weekend, according to Second City Hockey's account of the skate and Sun-Times reporter Ben Pope's reporting.

The rest of Monday's lineup is close to the one that played well in Saturday's overtime loss in Boston, with one change: Teuvo Teravainen returns on the fourth line in place of Jordan Greenway, who stands to be a healthy scratch for the first time this season, alongside Kevin Korchinski. The forward lines from the skate run Roman Kantserov with Connor Bedard and Ryan Donato on top; Tyler Bertuzzi, Anton Frondell and Andrew Mangiapane — elevated to the second line after playing only three games this season, with two assists — next; Oliver Moore, Frank Nazar and Patrick Kane on the third line; and Cole Smith, Ryan Greene and Teravainen on the fourth. The pairs are Alex Vlasic with Ian Cole, Wyatt Kaiser with Artyom Levshunov, and Ethan Del Mastro with Sam Rinzel, and Spencer Knight worked in the starter's net at the morning skate.

Colorado arrives with its own return. Logan O'Connor is back after missing Saturday's 5-2 win over Calgary to attend his father's memorial service, and the Avalanche assigned Gavin Brindley, who had filled O'Connor's spot, to their AHL affiliate in Loveland. The Avalanche remain without Zachary L'Heureux and Josh Manson, and they bring the Central Division's form team into the United Center: 8-5-1 with 17 points and two straight wins, led by Nathan MacKinnon's 24 points, Artturi Lehkonen's team-high 12 goals and Cale Makar's 15 points from the blue line, with MacKenzie Blackwood at 7-3-0 in net.

For Chicago, 4-9-1 and winless on the road but 4-4-0 at home, the night is a measuring stick that arrives one defenseman short. Puck drop is 7 p.m. Central at the United Center on CHSN+ — and the Byram watch, now in the hands of a specialist, carries on past it.