Rozsival, D-men face big challenge without Duncan Keith in Game 1

The last time Duncan Keith missed a playoff game, Michal Rozsival was a hero.

When Keith was suspended for Game 4 of the Western Conference final in 2013, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville relied on his top four remaining defenseman to pick up the slack. While Brent Seabrook (26:20), Niklas Hjalmarsson (24:57) and Johnny Oduya (22:54) played roughly three minutes more than their series average, the 34-year-old Rozsival did yeoman’s work — 25:28 of ice time, 10:38 more than his series average — as the Hawks parlayed goals by Bryan Bickell, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa to a 3-2 victory that gave them a 3-1 series lead.

Without Oduya to give the Hawks a Big Four even without Keith, the workload figures to be spread out a little more evenly when Keith serves the final game of his six-game suspension in Game 1 of the Hawks’ first-round series against the Blues at Scottrade Center on Wednesday night. But at 37, Rozsival is ready to carry more than his share of the load. In the six games Keith has missed (including the Wild game in which Keith was ejected in the first period), Rozsival has averaged 20:27 of ice time.

“I’m preparing for it — definitely,” Rozsival said Tuesday after practice at Johnny’s IceHouse West. “If I get the call and have to play Dunc’s minutes — maybe on the penalty kill and stuff, yeah, I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited. We’re all excited.”

But Rozsival knows coach Joel Quenneville will go with the hot hand. Trevor van Riemsdyk averaged 19:59 of ice time this season — fourth behind the Big Three of Keith (25:14), Seabrook (22:49) and Hjalmarsson (22:23). Viktor Svedberg and Erik Gustafsson figure to fill out the six-man defensive corps in Game 1.

“I think at this time of year as a coach you have to look at who’s playing the best,” said Rozsival, who had one goal and 13 points with a plus-3 rating in 51 games after recovering from offseason ankle surgery. “It can’t just be, ‘Rozsival is going to get the most minutes.’ I’ll be ready for it. But I think Q and [assistant coach] Mike Kitchen are going to make the right decisions on who’s gong to get the minutes. We’re all ready for it.”

The Hawks have a knack for picking up for key players. In 2014, they went 3-0 against the Blues without Brent Seabrook, who had been suspended for an illegal hit on David Backes in Game 2 of that first-round series. (The exception is Marian Hossa — the Hawks are 1-4 without him in the postseason.)

The Hawks show off their versatility in those instances. The other core defensemen play more minutes, the forwards are more responsible defensively; the goaltending often is better; and the Hawks sometimes score more goals — they scored four or more goals in eight of the 15 games Keith missed this season. They were 8-4-3 without Keith this season.

“He’s an amazing player,” forward Patrick Kane said. “Not only is he a great player, but he eats up a lot of minutes, too — offensively, penalty kill power play. You’re not just going to come in and say one or two things and it’s going to be fixed.

“It’s going to be a bit of a struggle, but at the same time, there’s opportunity and ice time for other defensemen to step in and try to prove themselves. So it’s more of a collective group thing than just one guy stepping in and doing his thing.”

Playing Game 1 of a playoff series on the road against a potent offensive team like the Blues will be a challenge for the Hawks — probably a bigger challenge than in previous years with out a key player. But if the Blues don’t expose the weakness, the Hawks know that if they can steal a game without Keith, they’ll have a big mental edge knowing he’ll be back for Game 2.

“You’re always going to miss guys in important times, and that’s a good test to your team,” Quenneville said. “But I find in a short [term] you can get through it. Over the long term — that’s a different story.”