Sharp was placed on injured reserve Monday, but will not require surgery. He suffered the injury in the first period of Sunday's loss against the Detroit Red Wings. He had played in every game this season and had an All-Star first half with 20 goals and 40 points in 42 games.

Coach Joel Quenneville said that Sharp could have suffered the injury when he was slashed on his left wrist by Jiri Hudler when he fired in his 20th goal of the season at 4:19 in the first.

Sharp, though, didn't leave the game and took five more shifts after the slash. He later fell on his hands while on the penalty kill. Sharp played only 5:35.

"He's one of our leading scorers," goalie Corey Crawford said. "You guys [the media] know what he can bring. Just his presence in the room and having the guy there just makes you that much more confident in the room and going onto the ice. Obviously, that's a huge loss for us.

"[But] a lot of the teams deal with the same sorts of stuff. You can't use it as an excuse."

Quenneville stressed having a defense-first mentality with Sharp out.

"We have to check to better, pay attention to details and play tighter," Quenneville said. "We want to make sure we're better defensively."

With Sharp out, the Hawks recalled Ben Smith from the Rockford IceHogs. He's expected to be in the lineup Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

(Image source: Tom Cruze/Sun-Times)