Chicago will be without Dave Bolland and Ray Emery for the second straight game on Friday.
‘Hawks head coach Joel Quenneville made the news official on Thursday, saying that neither played had sufficiently recovered from injury (groin for Bolland, lower-body for Emery) to participate in Game 2 of the Western Conference quarterfinal against Minnesota.
“We’re going to rule them out,” Quenneville told the Chicago Tribune. “Bollie didn’t skate but he’s getting real close to getting on the ice. [Emery] felt good, too. It was good progress.”
Bolland missed the final three games of the regular season and Tuesday’s series opener against the Wild, while Emery hasn’t played since leaving an Apr. 24 win over the Oilers with the aforementioned lower-body issue.
It’s expected that Michal Handzus will continue to fill in for Bolland at the No. 2 center spot -- between Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp -- while Henrik Karlsson will continue to back up Corey Crawford in goal.