Morning Skate Update: Tyler Johnson to return vs. Ducks; Toews still out

One veteran returns as another veteran heads to the bench.

A handful of news and notes ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks’ game on Tuesday night at the United Center against the Anaheim Ducks.

Coach Luke Richardson reaffirmed Monday’s that Jonathan Toews will not play due to an illness, adding that they’ve been doing their best to keep whatever it is that’s afflicting Toews from spreading through the locker room:

“Just keeping him away from the guys, it’s one of those things that we don’t want to go through the team. We’ve got two more days between games so we can let him rest up and see where he is on Friday.”

Positive news followed on two other veterans, though: forward Tyler Johnson will return to the lineup after being sidelined by an ankle injury suffered against the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 22. Additionally, defenseman Jarred Tinordi has been cleared to return to practice in full while still recovering from taking a puck to the face against the New York Rangers back on Dec. 18.

No updates were available on the Ducks, who did not have a morning skate after losing 3-2 to the Dallas Stars in Texas on Monday night. However, with John Gibson starting that game, the assumption is that Anaheim backup Anthony Stolarz will be in net.

Here are the projected lineups, based on the Blackhawks morning skate and the Ducks’ setup for that game against the Stars:

Projected lineups

Blackhawks

T. Johnson — Dickinson — Kane

Kurashev — Domi — Raddysh

Athanasiou — Lafferty — Blackwell

Katchouk — Entwistle — R. Johnson

McCabe — S. Jones

J. Johnson — Murphy

C. Jones — Mitchell

Mrazek

Stauber

Ducks

Henrique — Zegras — Strome

Vatrano — McTavish — Jones

Comtois — Lundestrom — Silfverberg

Carrick — Megna — Leason

Fowler — Kulikov

Beaulieu — Klingberg

Benoit — Shattenkirk

Stolarz

Gibson