"Honestly, I wasn't too pleased with the way I had been playing," Edmundson said. "I kind of agree with the choice they made by putting [Bortuzzo] in. He played two great games when he got in. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the two wins when I was out, so I'm going to just come in and help the team out and get the win.
"I was making too many turnovers. I wasn't handling the puck great. Just didn't feel comfortable out there. I think watching the past two games kind of let me see how much time I actually have out there, kind of when I got sent down earlier this year. I regrouped and this is a regroup stage for me."
Blues coach Ken Hitchcock has used right-hander Kevin Shattenkirk on the left side, and by getting Edmundson back in, this evens out the lefty-righty split.
"I think this sets up our lefty-righty schedule," Hitchcock said. "[Edmundson's] a young guy, it's great experience for him. He's looking forward to it, we're looking forward to having him in. He caught his breath and he'll be a good player tonight."
Blackhawks right wing Teuvo Teravainen, who had a knee-on-knee collision with Bortuzzo in Game 6, did not take part in the morning skate, and Tomas Fleischmann, a healthy scratch the past two games, was in his spot on the second line. But coach Joel Quenneville said Teravainen is "fine" and "ready to go."
Chicago is looking to become the 29th team in NHL history to overcome a 3-1 series deficit. The Blackhawks last did it in the 2013 Western Conference Second Round against the Detroit Red Wings.
This will be the fifth Game 7 the core group of Blackhawks veterans have played in under Joel Quenneville, who took over as coach in 2008-09. They're 2-2 in the previous four and the losses were each in overtime.
None of the four prior Game 7s were the result of Chicago failing to close out a series earlier. The Blackhawks have battled back from deficits of 3-0 once and 3-1 three times to force a Game 7, including this series against the Blues.
"We definitely have the momentum on our side, that's for sure, and we're going to try and keep it all night long," defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said. "Hopefully we can go out and have a good start. We have a lot of positivity on our team right now and we're all excited for tonight's game."
For the Blues franchise, this will be their 15th Game 7; they're 6-8 all-time and haven't played one at Scottrade Center since losing to the San Jose Sharks in the first round in 2000.
Here are the projected lineups:
BLACKHAWKS
Richard Panik - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Kane
Artemi Panarin - Artem Anisimov - Teuvo Teravainen
Andrew Ladd - Marcus Kruger - Marian Hossa
Andrew Desjardins - Andrew Shaw - Dale Weise
Duncan Keith - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Erik Gustafsson - Brent Seabrook
Trevor van Riemsdyk - David Rundblad
Corey Crawford
Scott Darling
Injured: None
Scratched: Tomas Fleischmann, Viktor Svedberg, Michal Rozsival, Christian Ehrhoff, Brandon Mashinter, Michael Leighton
BLUES
Jaden Schwartz - Jori Lehtera - Vladimir Tarasenko
Alexander Steen - Paul Stastny - Troy Brouwer
Robby Fabbri - Patrik Berglund - David Backes
Steve Ott - Kyle Brodziak - Scottie Upshall
Jay Bouwmeester - Alex Pietrangelo
Joel Edmundson - Kevin Shattenkirk
Carl Gunnarsson - Colton Parayko
Brian Elliott
Jake Allen
Injured: None
Scratched: Robert Bortuzzo, Ryan Reaves, Dmitrij Jaskin, Magnus Paajarvi, Ty Rattie, Petteri Lindbohm, Chris Butler, Anders Nilsson
Status report: Shaw moves to center the fourth line and Desjardins moves to left wing on the Blackhawks' fourth line. ... Ott and Upshall will switch spots on the Blues' fourth line.
Who's hot: Schwartz has a five-game point streak in the series (three goals, three assists). Tarasenko's four goals and two assists have come during the past five games. … Pietrangelo has a goal and three assists the past two games. ... Anisimov has a goal in three of the past four games. Shaw has two goals, two assists the past two games. … Panarin's seven points have come in the past five games. … Hossa has a three-game point streak (two goals, two assists). … Kane's one goal, five assists have during a five-game point streak.
