St. Louis Blues Attempt to Lock Up First Round Victory Over Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday
Blackhawks Lineup
If there’s one thing we’ve learned through this series, it’s that there’s no way to predict what lineup Joel Quenneville is going to throw out there until gametime. He’s made changes for every game thus far, and he’ll have to make at least one adjustment on Thursday, as winger Andrew Shaw is suspended for the homophobic slurs and obscene gesture that he used on Tuesday. It seems likely that Dale Weise will get back in the lineup in Shaw’s absence, though Quenneville could also opt for Brandon Mashinter, who played in Game 1.
Quenneville has also shaken up his defensive pairings multiple times, without much rhyme or reason behind any of his moves. Viktor Svedberg and Eric Gustafsson have rotated in and out of the lineup during the series, while trade deadline acquisition and grizzled veteran Christian Ehrhoff has yet to see any action. Quenneville also suggested before Game 4 that David Rundblad, who hasn’t played in an NHL game since December, could get in the lineup, but ultimately the Swede did not suit up for the game. Still, with Quenneville continuing to rapidly adjust his lineup, it seems to be a decent possibility that Rundblad could get in for Game 5.
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Here’s what Thursday’s lineup might look like:
Andrew Ladd– Jonathan Toews– Marian Hossa
Artemi Panarin– Artem Anisimov– Patrick Kane
Tomas Fleischmann– Teuvo Teravainen–Richard Panik
Andrew Desjardins– Marcus Kruger– Dale Weise
Eric Gustafsson–Brent Seabrook
Duncan Keith-Niklas Hjalmarsson
Trevor van Riemsdyk–Michal Rozsival