David Rundblad has been back from Europe for a month. Now he’s back from oblivion, too.
The beleaguered defenseman, who has spent most of his Blackhawks career as a healthy scratch, wasn’t in the lineup for Game 4. But it sounds like he could be soon.
“I told him to be ready to get into the series today,” Joel Quenneville said following Tuesday’s morning skate.
Rundblad played just nine regular-season games for the Hawks this season before being loaned to Zurich in the Swiss-A league in January. The offensive-minded blue-liner had two goals and 13 assists in 11 regular-season games for Zurich, and one assist in four playoff games.
But offense has never been Rundblad’s issue. Defense has been. And while the Hawks surely need some scoring punch from the back end, one mistake could prove costly in such a tight series. So it’s a high-risk, high-reward move for Quenneville.
“He was always fine,” Quenneville said. “He’s got real good play recognition, patience with the puck, he’s positionally fine. It’s in the puck area, defending around the net, that he has to get better at. He’s a good puck mover, has good feel for the game on the offensive point. Around the net, I think he’s made inroads and improvement in that area. He’s come back here, and he looks better.”
Whither Teuvo?
Teuvo Teravainen’s ice time has dropped dramatically in the playoffs, as the Hawks’ third line has been largely invisible. Teravainen averaged more than 15 minutes per game during the regular season, but saw just 7:24 in Game 2 and 9:43 in Game 3.
Quenneville said he wants Teravainen to have the puck more when he’s on the ice.
“I want the puck, too,” said Teravainen, who has won just 7-of-20 faceoffs in the series entering Game 4. “I’ve just got to be around it, fight more for the puck.”
Teravainen’s wingers have been changing from game to game as Quenneville rotates fringe players such as Dale Weise, Richard Panik and Brandon Mashinter into the lineup. But Teravainen, who was Quenneville’s utility man all season, said that hasn’t been a problem.
“Any time any player is out there, it’s a good fit,” he said. “I’ve been playing pretty much with every guy this year, so I know every guy. It doesn’t really matter.”
What does matter is getting some depth scoring from that third line.
“The first two lines, everybody expects goals from them,” Panik said. “But if you jump in [and produce], it’s going to help the team and eventually we’re going to start winning games.”
Quick draw
Artemi Panarin didn’t take a single faceoff during the regular season. He made the most of his first NHL draw in Game 3, however, intentionally losing it before chasing the puck down in the corner and setting up Artem Anisimov for a goal. Officially, Panarin was credited with winning the draw.
Panarin said Anisimov told him to lose the draw to set up the scoring chance. But Panarin isn’t expecting to spend any more time at the dot.
“I played center at a young age,” Panarin said through an interpreter. “But then as an adult, I never played center and took faceoffs.”
Email: mlazerus@suntimes.com
Twitter: @marklazerus
