At the Rink: Blackhawks at Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Chicago Blackhawks hope a return to Arizona for Antoine Vermette will get him going offensively.

The veteran center returns Thursday to play against the Arizona Coyotes for the first time since the March 1 trade between the two teams.

Vermette found out he was traded to Chicago just before he stepped on the team plane following a game in Boston. He decided to take the flight to Arizona, giving him more than four hours to say his goodbyes to his now former teammates and prepare for what was ahead.

"It's strange. I'm not going to lie," Vermette said Thursday. "This is certainly a little different, but you've got to get past that."

Vermette went from a team out of the running for the Stanley Cup Playoffs to one with a chance to win a championship.

"This is the real positive factor of the whole situation," Vermette said. "You want to make the best of it."

The Blackhawks need some offense from Vermette. They have scored nine goals in the five games since losing star forward Patrick Kane to a fractured clavicle on Feb. 24. Vermette has been around for three of those games and doesn't have a point playing between Brandon Saad and Teuvo Teravainen. Chicago has two goals in the past two games, losing 1-0 in overtime against the New York Rangers on Sunday after scoring twice in a 2-1 overtime win against the Edmonton Oilers last Friday.

Vermette, acquired for defenseman Klas Dahlbeck and a first-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, has been struggling offensively for several months. Since having two goals and an assist in Arizona's 4-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 29, he has three goals and seven assists in 27 games.

"He was a big part of this teams and he has a lot of great friends and a lot of great memories here," Arizona coach Dave Tippett said. "But once the puck drops, you play in this League. You see everything from good friends to brothers in this League where once you get in the ice, everybody plays."

Chicago will get defenseman Johnny Oduya back Thursday after he missed the past six games with a back injury. Forward Bryan Bickell, who was a healthy scratch against the Rangers, will be in the lineup.

Chicago's offensive struggles pale in comparison with the Coyotes. Arizona has lost 12 of the past 13 games and scored 17 goals over that span, scoring more than two goals in a game twice since beating the Blackhawks 3-2 in a shootout in Chicago on Feb. 9. Vermette scored a goal in regulation and had the winner in the shootout.

Parting with defenseman Keith Yandle at the NHL Trade Deadline has opened some ice time on defense and the Coyotes were happy with the way Michael Stone has stepped up. He had nine hits in the 2-1 overtime loss against the Nashville Predators on Monday, including two standup hits at the blue line that had Tippett smiling.

"All parts of his game have really come a long way this year," Tippett said. "His gaps, blocking shots, being physical … he was front and center in all of that the other night. If he can bring that game night in and night out, he's going to be a really valuable player for us."

Stone leads the Coyotes in hits (172) and blocked shots (148).

Arizona will get forward Lauri Korpikoski back after he missed the Nashville game with an upper-body injury.

Here are the projected lineups:

BLACKHAWKS

Kris Versteeg – Jonathan Toews – Marian Hossa

Brandon Saad – Antoine Vermette – Teuvo Teravainen

Bryan Bickell – Brad Richards – Patrick Sharp

Joakim Nordstrom – Marcus Kruger – Andrew Shaw

Niklas Hjalmarsson – Michal Rozsival

Duncan Keith – Johnny Oduya

Kimmo Timonen – Brent Seabrook

Corey Crawford

Scott Darling

Scratched: Daniel Carcillo, Andrew Desjardins, David Rundblad

Injured: Patrick Kane (collarbone)

COYOTES

Martin Erat – Kyle Chipchura – Shane Doan

Tobias Rieder – Mark Arcobello – Sam Gagner

Lauri Korpikoski – Craig Cunningham – David Moss

Tye McGinn – Joe Vitale – B.J. Crombeen

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Michael Stone

John Moore – Connor Murphy

Klas Dahlbeck – Andrew Campbell

Mike Smith

Louis Domingue

Scratched: Brandon Gormley, Brendan Shinnimin

Injured: Mikkel Boedker (upper body), Martin Hanzal (upper body)

Status report: Bickell had one point, a goal in 13 games, before being scratched. … Korpikoski replaces Shinnimin for the Coyotes, and will play with Cunningham and Moss. … Murphy returns after missing the Nashville game with an illness. … The Blackhawks are 22-2-0 when leading after one period and a perfect 21-0-0 when leading after two periods this season.

Who's hot: Toews has points in five of the past seven games, including five goals. … Richards needs one point for 900 in his career. … Rieder has 10 goals this season, the most by an Arizona rookie since Boedker had 11 in 2008-09. … Gagner has 22 points (10 goals) in 22 games against Chicago.