Brad Richards will be out for the remainder of the regular-season, and Kyle Baun will make his National Hockey League debut when the Chicago Blackhawks host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday at the United Center.
Richards is out with an upper-body injury, he has recorded 12 goals and 25 assists in 76 games for Chicago. Coach Joel Quenneville said he expects Richards to be ready for the playoffs. Antoine Vermette will move back to the second line center position during Richards’ injury. Baun will man the second line right-wing spot, at least for Tuesday night.
Baun, 22, signed a two-year entry level deal with Chicago on March 26. He posted 14 goals and 15 assists in 38 games at Colgate this season.
Defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who left Sunday’s game against St. Louis in the first period with an upper-body injury also skated during practice. David Rundblad will make the start in Timonen’s spot on the blue line. Joakim Nordstrom, who sat out a few games with an upper-body injury, returned to practiced and skated on the fourth line in left-wing spot where Andrew Desjardins filled in.
Corey Crawford will get the start in net.
St. Louis leads the Central Division with 105 points, but the Nashville Predators and Blackhawks are right on their heels. The Hawks are two points behind the Predators and three back of St. Louis. All three teams play Tuesday.
[MORE: Blackhawks playoff picture: April 7]
Chicago had a four-game winning streak against the Wild snapped with a 3-0 shutout loss on Feb. 3 in Minnesota. The Hawks have won the past three meetings at home in this series.
Here are the lines from Tuesday’s morning skate:
| Versteeg | Toews | Hossa |
| Saad | Vermette | Baun |
| Bickell | Shaw | Sharp |
| Nordstrom | Kruger | Teravainen |
Opponent Breakdown: Minnesota Wild
Minnesota will get a second crack at clinching a playoff spot when they begin their three-game road trip. The Wild failed in their first attempt Monday, losing 2-0 to the Winnipeg Jets. Minnesota is only two points up on Winnipeg for the first wild-card spot, and can secure a playoff spot with a victory coupled with a loss by the Los Angeles Kings to the Edmonton Oilers.
Minnesota has been red-hot on the road, winning 10 straight since a loss north of the border in Vancouver on Feb. 16. Unfortunately for the Wild, those games against the top three teams in the Central and they’ve dropped their last three games at home.
Devan Dubnyk will likely get the start — 38th consecutive start — against Chicago. Dubnyk is 3-6-0 with a 3.81 GAA and .895 save percentage in 10 games against the Hawks.
Forward Matt Cooke could return for the first time since Feb. 1. Cooke has missed 30 games following a sports hernia surgery. Nino Niederreiter did get injured late in Monday’s loss. He took a Matt Dumba shot off the foot. Nikko Koivu returned to practice Monday after missing Saturday’s game against Detroit because of a scratched cornea.
Yeo says Niederreiter is going to go on the ice this morning and is expecting him to play tonight. #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 7, 2015
Yeo says there is a possibility Zucker is in tonight. #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 7, 2015
Injury Report
Chicago: Patrick Kane (collarbone), Kimmo Timonen (upper-body, day-to-day) and Brad Richards (upper-body)
Minnesota: Jason Zucker (collarbone), Matt Cooke (sports hernia) and Keith Ballard (concussion)
Game Information
When: 7:30 p.m. CT
Where: United Center
TV: NBCSN
Radio: WGN-720
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