Blackhawks defenseman Henri Jokiharju will play Saturday night against the Predators after missing the past two games with an illness.
Jokiharju will reunite with Duncan Keith on the top defensive pairing, while Gustav Forsling drops down to the third line with Erik Gustafsson. Brandon Manning and Brent Seabrook are grouped together as the second unit. Jan Rutta will be a healthy scratch.
The Finnish rookie Jokiharju has no goals and 10 assists in 23 games this season. He skated 15:01 minutes of ice time in Chicago’s 5-4 overtime win against the Panthers a week ago.