On Monday, the Chicago Blackhawks shuffled up their lines and booted winger Kris Versteeg from the rotation, and on Thursday we got some clarity as to why as head coach Joel Quenneville said that Versteeg is dealing with a lower-body injury.
Versteeg, who managed just one goal and zero assists in the Blackhawks’ first round victory over the Nashville Predators, was replaced in the lineup by Teuvo Teravainen. The rookie forward was a healthy scratch in the final four games of the Nashville series as he was replaced by Andrew Desjardins.
Teravainen will be skating with Patrick Sharp and Antoine Vermette on the third line, with Bryan Bickell taking Versteeg’s spot on the second line with Patrick Kane and Brad Richards.
The Blackhawks will be looking for more offense from their second and third lines in the series, as the Wild have the ability to match up defensively with Chicago’s top grouping. That means that Teravainen will have to be more assertive with the puck, and players like Bickell and Vermette will have to get to the front of the net to create screens on Devan Dubnyk.
