Fraser breath of fresh air

ST. PAUL, Minn. - There was a scary moment for Colin Fraser three minutes into Wednesday's game when he was checked hard into the glass by Minnesota's Shane Hnidy and couldn't breathe.

Fraser made it back to the bench, where the Blackhawks' team doctor attended to him while the game was halted briefly. A stretcher was brought out on the ice just in case.

"He slapped me against the boards pretty hard and I got winded," Fraser said. "I couldn't get any breath. I was trying to breathe and I couldn't get anything all the way to the bench. No head trauma, no nothing; I feel 100 percent and I felt 100 percent as soon as I got to the bench."

Fraser missed the rest of the first period but returned to start the second and enjoyed a great night with linemates Tomas Kopecky and Ben Eager. The fourth line contributed 3 goals - 2 by Kopecky and 1 by Eager - and 3 assists in the Hawks' 4-0 win.

"It was one of those games where it seemed like everything was going right for us," said Fraser, who replaced the scratched Adam Burish. "We had a little bit of time and space and were making plays."

Johnsson still out: Brian Campbell's broken collarbone will keep the defenseman out of the lineup until at least the second round of the playoffs.

What isn't known is how much longer Kim Johnsson will be missing from the defense.

Johnsson sat out his ninth straight game Wednesday since suffering what is believed to be a concussion on March 13 at Philadelphia.

The troubling part is Johnsson hasn't even skated since the day he was hurt. Hawks coach Joel Quenneville continues to call Johnsson day-to-day, which is the only way to list someone suffering with concussion-like symptoms.

The loss of Campbell and Johnsson has put a strain on the defense and has hurt the power play.

"It's obviously important minutes, a lot of quality minutes," Quenneville said. "One thing with Soupy (Campbell), he brings that element of the pace coming out of our end, the speed off the rush and offensive zone cycles, he's dangerous as well. So maybe our puck possession game isn't as smooth as it was or as we'd like it to be."

Back to defense: A day after Dustin Byfuglien said he didn't expect to return to playing defense anytime soon, there he was back on defense against the Wild with Nick Boynton a healthy scratch.

Byfuglien was paired with Duncan Keith and the two responded with a strong game.

Quenneville kept Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson together and had Brent Sopel and Jordan Hendry as his third pair.