Hossa doesn't skate, but expected to play in Game 4

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."

The Blackhawks lost Game 3 to the Bruins 2-0 without Hossa, who was a surprise late scratch. Hossa was on the ice at the start of the pregame warm-ups Monday, but Quenneville said his problem did not stem from that.

Boston leads the series 2-1, and the Blackhawks have not scored in 122:26, dating to the opening goal in Game 2, a 2-1 overtime loss to the Bruins.

Hossa is tied for the team lead in scoring during the 2013 playoffs with 15 points. His seven goals and 65 shots are third on the Blackhawks.

"Whether it is the neutral zone or the offensive zone, in all zones, I think his awareness with the puck and puck protection is as good as anyone in the League," Qunneville said. "He's defensively responsible as well, but he sees plays and he makes plays. He goes into tight areas and comes out with pucks."

After Hossa missed Game 3, ex-Blackhawks forward Tony Amonte said he is "not the guy with the highest pain threshold in the NHL" during a segment on Comcast SportsNet New England.

"If you look back to his stats and you look throughout his career, he usually plays about 60 games, takes about 20 or 30 off every year just to make sure he's fresh coming into the postseason," said Amonte, a Bruins analyst for the television station. "He's not a guy that will play through a lot of injuries."

Hossa has played at least 72 games in 11 of his 14 NHL seasons before 2012-13, and played in 40 of the 48 games this season. He also is playing in the Cup Final for the fourth time in the past six seasons.

"I think a lot of those guys can say what they want, but they don't really know what's going on and what the situation is," Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane said. "Sometimes if you don't know what's going on you're better off to not say anything at all and just let it play out the way it is. It's the Stanley Cup Final, everyone is playing through injuries, bruises and scars, whatever it may be.

"Everyone is trying to do their best to get out there and play as best as they can, sometimes it's just something you can't do. Hopefully we get him back tonight. He's a huge part of our lineup. We all feel that he's a tough guy in here, he's accomplished so much in his career, so for people to say that about him and not really know what's going on, I think they're better off just leaving it be."

Here is the projected lineup for the Blackhawks for Game 4 of the Cup Final:

Bryan Bickell - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Kane

Patrick Sharp - Michal Handzus - Marian Hossa

Brandon Saad - Andrew Shaw - Viktor Stalberg

Marcus Kruger - Dave Bolland - Michael Frolik

Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook

Niklas Hjalmarsson - Johnny Oduya

Nick Leddy - Michal Rozsival

Corey Crawford

Ray Emery

Scratched: Ben Smith, Steve Montador, Jeremy Morin, Daniel Carcillo, Sheldon Brookbank, Jamal Mayers, Dylan Olsen, Brandon Pirri, Jimmy Hayes, Shawn Lalonde, Klas Dahlbeck, Adam Clendening, Brandon Bollig, Ryan Stanton, Carter Hutton, Henrik Karlsson

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