Teuvo Teravainen will take Toews' place on the line with Andrew Shaw and Marian Hossa. Teravainen has nine goals and 13 assists in 49 games.
"We like his versatility," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Having multiple roles enhances your ice time and the quality of your ice time. He's absorbing some penalty-killing situations, and now with Johnny being out he gets a little bit more in that situation right off the bat.
"Playing with those guys, you're going to get more ice time -- left (wing), center, right (wing) -- we like the flexibility in games, that usefulness in games. It's great that he has that flexibility. It gives us a lot of options. Defensively, he's reliable. The upside offensively is still in place. I think there's room for growth in that area. I like how defensively he positions himself in the right places."
The Blackhawks (33-16-4) are in first place in the Central Division, but they've lost three of their past four games. They've been shut out twice during this stretch while going 1-for-10 on power plays.
The Avalanche (27-22-3) have won six of their past seven home games and five of six overall to move into the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"We know it's going to be tight until the end," captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "We have to take care of what we can control, to take care of business. If you look at December and January, those were two good months for us. I said a couple weeks ago that when you have 10 new guys coming into training camp, whether you want to admit it or not, it's going to take some time for guys to adjust to the systems and line combinations and (defensive) pairings and things like that.
"I know we got off to a rough start, but after that it feels like we've come into our own and played up to our potential. I still think that we have more in the tank and we can get better."
Goalie Calvin Pickard, who will make his third consecutive start, and coach Patrick Roy were in the nets at the morning skate. Semyon Varlamov, who is scheduled to dress as the backup against Chicago, was absent while tending to a legal matter.
Roy will make two line changes in an attempt to get Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay going. Iginla doesn't have a point in five games, and he has one goal and one assist in the past 10 games. Tanguay has one goal and 12 assists in the past 30 games. He was a healthy scratch Jan. 27 against the Los Angeles Kings.
Iginla, normally a right wing, will play left wing with center Nathan MacKinnon and right wing Matt Duchene. Tanguay, usually a left wing, will play right wing with center Chris Wagner and right wing Mikhail Grigorenko.
"Seems to me [Duchene] is very comfortable on the right side," Roy said. "What I like about Jarome is his one-timer on the off wing. If they decide to switch, I'm also very comfortable with it."
Tanguay will be taking Iginla's place with Wagner and Grigorenko.
"I'm going to rotate both of them," Roy said of Tanguay and Iginla. "It's a bit of a competition. I don't feel the need or the urgency to make changes (with the other lines). For now, it's the way it is."
Here are the projected lineups:
BLACKHAWKS
Andrew Shaw - Teuvo Teravainen - Marian Hossa
Artemi Panarin - Artem Anisimov - Patrick Kane
Andrew Desjardins - Phillip Danault - Richard Panik
Brandon Mashinter - Dennis Rasmussen - Jiri Sekac
Duncan Keith - Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Niklas Hjalmarsson - Brent Seabrook
Viktor Svedberg - Erik Gustafsson
Corey Crawford
Scott Darling
Injured: Marcus Kruger (wrist), Michal Rozsival (lower body)
Scratched: Rob Scuderi
Suspended: Jonathan Toews
AVALANCHE
Jarome Iginla - Nathan MacKinnon - Matt Duchene
Gabriel Landeskog - Carl Soderberg - Blake Comeau
Mikhail Grigorenko - Chris Wagner - Alex Tanguay
Cody McLeod - John Mitchell - Jack Skille
Francois Beauchemin - Erik Johnson
Nick Holden - Tyson Barrie
Zach Redmond - Chris Bigras
Calvin Pickard
Semyon Varlamov
Injured: Reto Berra (ankle), Ben Street (chest), Brad Stuart (back surgery), Jesse Winchester (head)
Scratched: Andrew Bodnarchuk, Nate Guenin, Andreas Martinsen
Status report: The Blackhawks recalled Svedberg from the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League. He will replace Rozsival, who was injured Jan. 24 against the St. Louis Blues. "Hopefully he'll be ready next game," Quenneville said. Svedberg had one goal and one assist in 15 games with the Blackhawks earlier this season. … The Avalanche announced Stuart will be out long-term following back surgery. He hasn't played since getting injured Nov. 10 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Who's hot: Crawford has gone 10-2-0 in his past 12 starts. … Soderberg has two goals and four assists in the past six games. … MacKinnon has a goal in two consecutive games.
