Collin Delia to start for Blackhawks vs. struggling Wild

The Blackhawks were definitely on Santa’s naughty list this year, but they have started to gain some points to be on the nice list. Chicago is 4-2-1 during its past seven games heading into a Central Division matchup against the Wild on Thursday at the United Center.

The Blackhawks will turn to Collin Delia in net for the second time since Corey Crawford went down with his second concussion in less than a year. Delia made 35 saves six days ago in Chicago’s 2-1 victory at Colorado. Delia’s three previous starts have come against Central Division opponents: March 29 vs. Winnipeg and March 30 and Dec. 21 at Colorado.

Chicago head coach Jeremy Colliton made one change to the lineup by flipping Dylan Sikura and Brendan Perlini from the third and fourth lines, respectively.

Minnesota, who hasn’t played since Dec. 22, is riding a four-game losing streak into Thursday’s game. The Wild are struggling to produce offensively, with only three goals in their past four games.

Mikael Granlund leads the Wild in scoring with 34 points (11 goals, 23 assists) in 35 games, while Zach Parise is right behind at 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) in 34 outings.

Minnesota will be without one of their best young players as the team announced Wednesday night that defenseman Matt Dumba will miss a minimum of three months after undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured right pectoralis muscle.

Devan Dubnyk is expected to start between the pipes. He has a 2.59 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage this season.

Chicago has taken three out of a possible four points in the season series against Minnesota. The Blackhawks lost 4-3 in overtime Oct. 11 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, then won 3-1 on Nov. 18 in Chicago.

Blackhawks

Saad — Toews — Kahun

Strome — Anisimov — Kane

DeBrincat — Kampf — Perlini

Hayden — Nilsson — Sikura

Keith — Gustafsson

Forsling — Seabrook

Dahlstrom — Murphy

Delia

Ward

Wild

Zucker — Staal — Grandlund

Parise — Koivu — Niederreiter

Greenway — Coyle — Kunin

Foligno — Eriksson Ek — Fehr

Suter — Spurgeon

Brodin — Pateryn

Seeler — Prosser

Dubnyk

Stalock

How to Watch

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Location: United Center, Chicago

TV: NBC Sports Chicago