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Schmaltz won't play vs. Predators tonight

Nick Schmaltz will sit out a fourth straight game when the Blackhawks take on Nashville at the United Center tonight.

Schmaltz suffered an upper-body injury against Columbus on Oct. 7, and although he has taken part in the last two morning skates, the 21-year-old center wants to make sure he's 100 percent before returning.

"It's obviously tough," he said. "You want to be out there with your team and help them out."

With Schmaltz sitting, watch for Tanner Kero to skate with Patrick Kane and Ryan Hartman. Artem Anisimov will likely center the third line with Patrick Sharp and Alex DeBrincat on the wings.

"It's a little different role," said Kero, who is normally on the fourth line. "But you don't want to change your game too much. You just want to keep being hard defensively; make sure you're being good in our end and get the pucks for them on the breakout. Then support them and use speed to generate space and try to create opportunities."

Scratched again?

When the Hawks play Nashville tonight, it looks like defenseman Connor Murphy will be a healthy scratch for the second time in three games. Murphy was acquired from Arizona for Niklas Hjalmarsson in the off-season.

"I think he's been fine handling it," Joel Quenneville said. "I thought he came in and did a good job (against Minnesota). It's not where you want to be, but it's a depth (problem) for our team."

One defenseman who has wowed Quenneville and his staff is 27-year-old Jan Rutta, who is usually paired with second-year man Gustav Forsling.

"He's been really good," Quenneville said. "Whether it's a surprise or not, I don't know if (we) were expecting that level of play. It's been fun watching him play.

"His gap is tremendous and his thinking process out there complements the gap. Puck movement, reliability, dependability has been excellent."

Slap shots:

Minnesota's Marcus Foligno suffered a facial fracture during his fight with John Hayden on Thursday. Hayden, who wished Foligno a "very speedy recovery" Saturday, landed a huge right cross during the brawl. … Jonathan Toews will attempt to extend his regular-season points streak to eight games tonight against the Predators.

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