BOSTON -- Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said Sunday he is "optimistic" captain Jonathan Toews will be able to play in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins on Monday night at TD Garden (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, RDS) despite an upper-body injury.

Toews sat on the bench but did not play during the third period of Game 5 on Saturday night at United Center.

"Johnny is doing much better today," Quenneville said Sunday at TD Garden. "He's progressed, and we're optimistic that he'll be playing tomorrow night."

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews did not play in the third period of Saturday's Game 5 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final because of an upper-body injury.

Toews, the Blackhawks captain, was on the receiving end of a huge hit from Boston Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk midway through the second period, but he continued to play until the end of the period. He sat on the bench for the third period, but did not take a shift while the Blackhawks were able to protect the lead and claim a 3-1 win at United Center to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series.

"We're hopeful he'll be ready next game, upper-body," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "We'll see how he is tomorrow. I checked on him a couple times there. I think he wanted to play, but we'll see."

CHICAGO -- Marian Hossa was in the Chicago Blackhawks lineup Saturday against the Boston Bruins in Game 5 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final at United Center (NBC, CBC, RDS).

Hossa missed Game 3 because of an upper-body injury but played in Game 4 after not skating that morning. The Blackhawks did not practice Thursday, and Hossa stayed off the ice during the team’s Friday workout.

"He's fine. He'll play," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said after the morning skate Saturday. "We'll say he should be better."

BOSTON -- The Chicago Blackhawks have played a lot of extra hockey lately. They played some more Wednesday night while essentially using five defensemen.

Nick Leddy took four shifts in Game 4 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, logging a total of 2:37 of ice time in a 6-5 overtime victory against the Boston Bruins that evened the best-of-7 series at two wins each. Three of the four games have gone to overtime.

"Nick is fine," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said when asked if Leddy was OK.

BOSTON -- The Chicago Blackhawks, desperate for offense after scoring once in the previous two games, will go back to a line in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday at TD Garden (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, RDS) that worked pretty well for them at the end of the last round.

Jonathan Toews skated between Bryan Bickell and Patrick Kane on the team's top line during the morning session Wednesday. That trio played together near the end of the Western Conference Final, and Kane produced a hat trick in the series-clinching Game 5 victory against the Los Angeles Kings.

"We had some success against L.A. Whatever the combinations are, we've got to find a way to score," Toews said. "We have confidence as a line, with [Bickell and Kane] we can make things happen. We were close last game. We didn't get on the score sheet. Obviously that's not good enough."

BOSTON -- Marian Hossa is expected to be back in the lineup for the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 4 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, RDS).

Hossa, who missed Game 3 against the Boston Bruins with an upper-body injury, did not skate Wednesday morning at TD Garden, but coach Joel Quenneville did not see that as a reason to keep him out of the lineup.

"[Hossa] is expected to play tonight," Quenneville said. "He is fine."

BOSTON -- The Chicago Blackhawks’ reward for winning the Presidents’ Trophy was home-ice advantage throughout the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and with that meant the first two contests of each series were held at United Center.

While the Blackhawks reached the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in four years, each time they have left the comforts of home for the first time in a series, they have begun the two-game road trip with a loss. Chicago has been great at home this postseason -- 10-1 before a Game 2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday night -- the Blackhawks are hoping to avoid an 0-4 postseason in Game 3s on Monday night at TD Garden.

“Yeah, I knew that stat coming in,” Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane said. “I think when you're at home the first two games, sometimes you get a little bit too comfortable at home. Then you come on the road, maybe it's like a rude awakening when you come and play on the road. We've had three series to figure that out, learn it. It was a huge Game 4 against L.A. to come back and win that one. We definitely want to be better tomorrow, especially in the first game on the road.”

BOSTON -- Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville hinted Sunday at a possible lineup change for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins.

When asked if Viktor Stalberg could play Monday night, Quenneville responded, “He could play.” When other coaches say something like that, it is usually them trying to be coy about their plans. Quenneville’s track record suggests that “could play” is very often code for “will play.”

Stalberg was a healthy scratch for the first two games of the Cup Final. It was the second time he’s been scratched during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He was also held out of the lineup in Games 1 and 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Detroit Red Wings.

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith spent more time on the ice Wednesday than any player has in a game during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and he could tell Thursday morning.

Keith logged 48:40 of ice time in Game 1 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, a 4-3 overtime victory against the Boston Bruins. He eclipsed Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg by four seconds for the most playing time in the game, and it was the most since Ryan McDonagh and Marc Staal each saw more 49 minutes in a three-overtime victory for the New York Rangers against the Washington Capitals in the first round of the 2012 playoffs.

"Personally, I didn't feel that great at the start of the game," Keith said Friday at United Center. "I felt better as the game went on. I don't know if that is because we had the three days off between rounds. We hadn't had three days off in that entire [Western Conference Final]. I felt better at the end of the game, but I was definitely feeling it yesterday.

"Yeah, I definitely noticed it. I think anybody who didn't notice it would be lying, but when you play almost two games, you notice it."

CHICAGO -- While the Chicago Blackhawks are expected to tweak each of their forward lines for Game 1 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, RDS), the Boston Bruins will keep the status quo.

Boston coach Claude Julien has established a track record of preferring to keep his lineup intact so far this postseason. He's had to adjust for injuries -- the most recent being to forward Gregory Campbell -- but the Bruins used the same 12 forwards from Game 2 of the first round until Kaspars Daugavins replaced Campbell for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final.

"We've been together for a long time now," Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg said. "Most of us know each other and it doesn't matter who is paired up or who is playing together up front. I'm sure some guys like to play with certain guys, but we've been rotating a lot, especially on the back end."