Blackhawks welcome back Keith, Rozsival

The cavalry has arrived.

Or, more accurately, Duncan Keith and Michal Rozsival are about to make their much-anticipated returns for the Blackhawks when they take on the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night at the Scottrade Center.

Keith ended up missing 10 games after undergoing surgery to repair a meniscal tear in his right knee, while Rozsival is back after breaking his ankle in last season's playoffs.

To make room on the roster, the Hawks assigned Viktor Svedberg and Erik Gustafsson to the Rockford IceHogs.

Of the two returning D-men, Keith is obviously the big knight in shining armor for the 8-7-1 Hawks as they attempt to string some wins together after a mediocre start to the season.

“He's huge for us,” said good friend and fellow defenseman Brent Seabrook.

He sure is.

Huge at neutralizing the other team's top players. Huge in terms of setting up the offense. And a huge force as the quarterback of the Hawks' power play.

“He should enhance all situational plays — power play, penalty killing, 5-on-5, important minutes, first and last shifts of periods and games,” said coach Joel Quenneville. “A lot of times he's a key factor in all those critical shifts. It's a big void.

“Defensively, I didn't think we were bad (with him out), but certainly his presence makes a big difference.”

The Hawks went 3-3 with Keith and 5-4-1 without him. Over the last seven games, though, they allowed 25 goals — a 3.57 average — while going 2-4-1.

Quenneville said there won't be a minutes restriction for Keith, but that the team will certainly keep an eye on him.

“We don't want to overtax him in Game 1,” Quenneville said.

The Hawks' offense has revolved primarily around Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov all season. Quenneville is hoping Keith can help spark some of the other lines as well.

“We have a lot of offensive zone time with not a lot to show for it,” Quenneville said. “He's good in that area. He can help, no matter who he's on the ice with.”

Keith skated with Niklas Hjalmarsson at practice, while Rozsival was paired with Trevor Daley.

Rozsival, who will be beginning his 15th NHL campaign, broke his ankle during the Hawks' Game 4 victory over Minnesota in the second round of last season's Stanley Cup playoffs. The 37-year-old played in 65 regular-season games last year while averaging 17:01 of ice time.

Rozsival watched the Western Conference finals at home, but was at the United Center when the Hawks claimed the title.

“It was different,” Rozsival said about three weeks ago. “Usually I was on the bench and playing. Now I had to watch something like that (after) being part of it.

“I had to watch from the chair in my living room. It was different — disappointing. But at the same time, it was exciting and at the end it was super exciting.”

Rozsival said he never contemplated retiring.

As for Gustafsson and Svedberg, both mostly impressed Quenneville and his staff while gaining valuable experience. Svedberg played in 15 games, registering a goal and an assist while averaging 17:13 of ice time. Gustafsson had 3 assists and recorded a plus-5 rating in just six games all the while displaying good awareness on the ice at most times.

David Rundblad, who is on a one-way contract and would have had to clear waivers before the Hawks could assign him to Rockford, remains on the big club.

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Scouting report

Blackhawks (8-7-1) vs. St. Louis Blues (11-4-1) at Scottrade Center, 7 p.m. Saturday

TV: WGN

Radio: WGN 720-AM

The skinny: This is a huge divisional matchup for the sixth-place Blackhawks, who blew a 5-2 lead to St. Louis last week at the United Center. Asked if the Hawks should be extra motivated to play the Blues, coach Joel Quenneville said: “We should be extra motivated after the way we lost the game (Thursday) night (to New Jersey). I'm still upset about it.” ... St. Louis has won six of eight but is coming off a 6-3 loss to the Rangers on Thursday. D-man Kevin Shattenkirk returned from injury in that game, but the Blues are still without centers Paul Stastny, Patrick Berglund and Steve Ott and winger Jaden Schwartz. ... Corey Crawford starts in net for the Hawks.

Next: Calgary Flames at United Center, 7:30 p.m. Sunday

— John Dietz