CHICAGO -- Defenseman Duncan Keith and center Michal Handzus did not participate in practice Friday for the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center, but coach Joel Quenneville said both are fine.
Handzus has now skipped the past three on-ice workouts for the Blackhawks. Quenneville was asked if he is nursing a minor injury he can play through.
"I think he's fine," Quenneville said.
Ben Smith replaced Handzus on the second line during practice. The Blackhawks rotated their defensemen in and out of positions, but if Keith is indeed fine, the same six who played in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Detroit Red Wings are expected to be in the lineup Saturday afternoon for Game 2 (1 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, RDS).
Viktor Stalberg remained on a line with other healthy scratches. He was not in the lineup for Game 1, which has led to three days of stories about why and when he might be back. Stalberg had nine goals and 23 points in 47 games during the regular season and had dressed for each of the team's 18 Stanley Cup Playoff contests in the past three years.
Here are the projected lineups for the Blackhawks and Red Wings for their Saturday matinee at The Madhouse on Madison:
BLACKHAWKS
Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Marian Hossa
Patrick Sharp – Michal Handzus – Patrick Kane
Bryan Bickell – Dave Bolland – Andrew Shaw
Daniel Carcillo – Marcus Kruger – Michael Frolik
Duncan Keith – Niklas Hjalmarsson
Johnny Oduya – Michal Rozsival
Scratched: Viktor Stalberg, Jamal Mayers, Sheldon Brookbank, Ben Smith, Ryan Stanton
Injured: None
RED WINGS
Johan Franzen – Pavel Datsyuk – Justin Abdelkader
Valtteri Filppula – Henrik Zetterberg – Danny Cleary
Gustav Nyquist – Joakim Andersson – Damien Brunner
Patrick Eaves – Cory Emmerton – Todd Bertuzzi
Niklas Kronwall – Jonathan Ericsson
Carlo Colaiacovo – Jakub Kindl
Scratched: Jordin Tootoo, Tom McCollum, Ian White
Injured: Drew Miller (finger), Mikael Samuelsson (upper body)
Miller practiced with the Red Wings on Friday at Joe Louis Arena. Coach Mike Babcock said if Miller "is available and can help us, I'll put him in."