CHICAGO -- The wheel of change keeps spinning for the Chicago Blackhawks, with new faces continuing to get auditions and more familiar faces seeing looks in different roles.

This time, part of the lineup shakeup was caused by veteran center Michal Handzus, who did not participate in the Blackhawks' morning skate Saturday because of an upper-body injury. Marcus Kruger will fill in for Handzus at center on the second line Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild at United Center (8 p.m., FS-N, WGN), playing between star wingers Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane.

The move means Andrew Shaw will shift back to the middle of the third line, where Kruger's been playing of late, and rookie Jeremy Morin will get his first look at right wing on that unit this season. Morin was recalled from Rockford of the American Hockey League on Friday afternoon.

"[Handzus] could be out for a little bit, we'll see," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "[Morin] gives us a little bit of something there, some speed and quickness and can score goals ... and things happen when he's out there."

NASHVILLE -- When Carter Hutton signed with the Nashville Predators as an unrestricted free agent over the summer, all he wanted was a guaranteed chance to stay in the NHL.

Hutton spent last season with the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that solidified its goaltending this summer by signing Corey Crawford to a multi-year contract and bringing in veteran Nikolai Khabibulin to be the backup. Unfortunately for him, the Thunder Bay, Ontario native was the odd man out.

But Hutton, 27, never envisioned himself being the guy in Nashville these days. Not with Pekka Rinne firmly entrenched in the Predators' crease. But with Rinne's recent hip infection and consequential surgery that has sidelined Nashville's No. 1 goaltender for a minimum of four weeks, Hutton has been thrust into the starting role.

"You never want it to happen like this, especially to a guy like Pekka," said Hutton, who will make his third start and fourth appearance for Nashville on Saturday when the Predators host the St. Louis Blues. "He's been a really good friend to me since I've been here. Kind of took me under his wing. You don't wish that on anybody, but opportunities come in weird ways. That's why they brought me here. They thought they had faith in me and I believe in myself. When you get the chance, no matter how it comes, whether it was one start every 10 games or now playing a bunch, you've got to be ready for it and just take advantage of it."

MONTREAL – San Jose Sharks forward Tommy Wingels took part in the morning skate and hopes to play against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

Wingels left the Sharks' 2-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Thursday night in the first period after taking a hit in the corner from Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara.

Wingels, who has two goals and four assists in 10 games this season, took part in the skate Saturday with no restrictions and said afterwards he was "feeling good" but that no decision had been made in regards to his status.

"We'll make a decision here once he's reviewed by the doctors and the training staff," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "He skated today and he's feeling pretty good, so we're hoping he can play."

Two nights after making his first NHL start, goaltender Cam Talbot will return to the New York Rangers' net Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena.

Talbot stopped 25 of 27 shots Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers, but came up on the short end of a 2-1 loss that dropped New York's record to 2-6-0. With the Rangers playing the final contest in a nine-game road trip to start the 2013-14 season, Talbot is looking forward to getting back in the crease.

DALLAS -- Winnipeg Jets wing Evander Kane did not skate Saturday morning in Dallas and coach Claude Noel called him a game-time decision for a contest with the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.

"Yeah, it was just maintenance," Noel said of Kane missing the skate. "Game-time situation, we'll see how he's doing."

Kane was at the arena and was seen in the locker room in street clothes. But when asked if he thought Kane, who is currently tied for the team lead in goals with five would play, the Jets coach remained non-committal.

"We have to see," Noel said.

Should Kane not be able to go against the Stars, it's likely that Chris Thorburn, who did travel with the club, could take his place on Winnipeg's second line alongside Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler. That's how that line looked during part of the morning skate.

Ondrej Pavelec will start his sixth straight game in net for the Jets.

Dallas will see Alex Goligoski return to the blue line after being a healthy scratch Thursday in a 5-1 win against the Calgary Flames. Goligoski, who has a minus-10 rating this season, was paired with Jordie Benn during morning skate.

BOSTON – The news for the New Jersey Devils on Friday was that Martin Brodeur would get the start against the Boston Bruins on Saturday after three straight starts for Cory Schneider.

The Devils revealed Saturday there was more to that decision than a desire to get Brodeur into his first game since Oct. 17. Schneider is out with a lower-body injury and didn't even make the trip to his hometown. The projection for his return is up in the air.

"I don't know the answer to that. I think it's short-term, but I don't know," coach Peter DeBoer said after his team's morning skate.

TORONTO -- The matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday night features a pair of teams coming off bad losses on Friday.

Toronto's 5-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets brought out a few unlikely faces at the morning skate. Captain Dion Phaneuf, David Clarkson and Jonathan Bernier all took part as well as minor-league call-up Carter Ashton among others. With Ashton up, forward Josh Leivo was sent back to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

Bernier's appearance likely means James Reimer will get the start against the Penguins. Bernier has earned the decision in the last four games for the Maple Leafs. In Reimer's last start, he left the game just 32 seconds into the team's 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 17 after colliding with Leivo. Prior to that, he stopped 36 shots in a 4-1 win against the Minnesota Wild.

One player who was not at the morning skate was Joffrey Lupul. Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said they've sent Lupul for a CT scan to see if he has more than a bruised foot. Lupul was hurt at practice on Thursday after taking a shot off his ankle. It is doubtful he will play Saturday against Pittsburgh.

TAMPA -- The Tampa Bay Lightning wrap up their longest homestand of the season against the Buffalo Sabres Saturday night, and they are finishing the seven-game stint with an extra morning off.

Both teams had optional skates this morning and very few players took advantage of the ice time.

But while the Buffalo Sabres, who won their second game of the season Friday night against the Florida Panthers, were not on the ice Saturday morning, they certainly were on the mind of Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who cautioned his team not to take Buffalo lightly.

"All we remember is that we played Buffalo once and we had to grind out the game in overtime to get two points," Cooper said. "One thing you can't do is look at the standings. Just look at last year because we were 28th, so Buffalo might be saying, ‘oh wow, we have to be careful not to look past Tampa.'

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Boyd Gordon and Jason LaBarbera, two former Phoenix Coyotes players who signed as free agents with the Edmonton Oilers during the summer, return to Arizona Saturday as the Oilers visit for a rare Saturday matinee.

LaBarbera will get the start against his old team. He spent four years backing up Ilya Bryzgalov and Mike Smith in Phoenix, going 22-26-9 in that span. He’s 1-2-0 this year in four appearances. The Coyotes lost Gordon when they signed Mike Ribeiro to a long-term deal, but Gordon’s faceoff ability and penalty killing prowess is missed.

The Coyotes will play without defenseman Rostislav Klesla, who suffered a lower-body injury early in a 7-4 road loss against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. The Coyotes had their seven-game points streak snapped (5-0-2) despite rallying from 4-0 down to tie the game in the third period.

At 11:30 of the first period in the Hurricanes/Avalanche game, video review supported the referee's call on the ice that Erik Johnson did not use a distinct kicking motion to propel the puck into the net. According to Rule 49.2 "A puck that deflects into the net off an attacking player's skate who does not use a distinct kicking motion is a legitimate goal." Good goal Colorado.