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‘Hawks swap: Vermette and Teravainen out for Game 3, Nordstrom and Versteeg in

St Louis Blues v Chicago Blackhawks

St Louis Blues v Chicago Blackhawks

NHLI via Getty Images

Joel Quenneville is shaking things up for Game 3 of the Western Conference Final -- Antoine Vermette and Teuvo Teravainen have been scratched in favor of Joakim Nodstrom and Kris Versteeg, who will both play for the first time since the Nashville series.

Vermette, who played over 21 minutes in the triple-OT win in Game 2, has been a lineup fixture after struggling to draw in to begin the playoffs. He’s emerged as one of Chicago’s better faceoff guys and played well against Anaheim on Tuesday night, finishing with three shots on goal.

Teravainen, like Vermette, got plenty of action on Tuesday -- over 22 minutes -- and finished with four shots on goal. That said, he’s been held pointless since Game 2 of the Minnesota series.

A healthy scratch since the first round, Versteeg impressed Quenneville recently in practice, and the head coach acknowledged how difficult sitting has been on the veteran forward.

“He’s had a great week of practicing,” Quenneville said earlier today. “He’s not happy. He wants to play in the worst way. Puts himself as a candidate to get in the lineup. We’ve had some decisions along the way. Last game we could have inserted him. We’ll see. I like his approach. I told him we expect him in this series.”

As for Nordstrom, he only appeared in two games this postseason -- the first two of the Nashville series -- and was parked after going minus-2 in a 6-2 loss on Apr. 17.