CHICAGO -- Patrick Kane's moving back to right wing on the top line is the biggest change for either team heading into tonight's game here at the United Center between the Blackhawks and New York Islanders, but both teams may have some other changes coming.

The Islanders might be without defenseman Andrew MacDonald, who appears to have been injured blocking a shot Tuesday in Buffalo with just six seconds left in New York’s 2-1 victory.

"That's the desperation that we're talking about and it was 5 on 5," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said at Friday's optional skate. "(Travis Hamonic), (Steve Staios) and MacDonald all blocked shots  in that game and obviously it hit Andrew in a tough spot, so right now, as of this
morning, he'll be a game-time decision tonight."

That means rookie defenseman Dylan Reese, called up Thursday from the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers on an emergency basis, might get in the lineup if MacDonald can't go. Reese was paired with Hamonic at Thursday’s practice, but according to Capuano the pairings could change if MacDonald is held out.

For the Blackhawks, it looks like rookie forward Ben Smith will get back into the lineup for the first time since Nov. 19. Smith centered the third line at the morning skate, playing between Bryan Bickell on the left and Michael Frolik on the right – but it's unclear who will come out of the lineup to make room for Smith.

The third line's usual center, Dave Bolland, missed Thursday's practice and Friday’s skate with an undisclosed injury, but is expected to play against the Islanders. Smith could replace Bickell, who has been slumping and didn't record a point in November.

"These guys are so good and just to be here and experience that and play with them, I'm definitely learning and improving every day," said Smith, who has played just two games since being recalled Nov. 17 from Rockford of the American Hockey League. "I'm just kind of being
patient and waiting for my chance to get in there and when I do get a chance, I need to take advantage of it and run with it."

Here’s how the lineups might look like for the Blackhawks and Islanders tonight:

ISLANDERS
Matt Moulson - John Tavares - P.A. Parenteau
Michael Grabner - Frans Nielsen - Kyle Okposo
David Ullstrom - Josh Bailey - Brian Rolston
Matt Martin - Marty Reasoner - Nino Niederreiter

Mart Streit - Steve Staios
Andrew MacDonald/Dylan Reese - Travis Hamonic
Milan Jurcina - Mike Mottau

Al Montoya, who's from nearby Glenview, Ill., will start in goal with Rick DiPietro the backup.

BLACKHAWKS
Viktor Stalberg - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Kane
Patrick Sharp - Marcus Kruger - Marian Hossa
Ben Smith - Dave Bolland - Michael Frolik
Daniel Carcillo - Jamal Mayers - Andrew Brunette

Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook
Nick Leddy - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Steve Montador - Sean O'Donnell

Corey Crawford will start in goal, with Ray Emery the backup.

For more on tonight's game, check out the preview here.

DETROIT -- Jimmy Howard will start in net for the 16th straight game and 20th time in 23 games when the Red Wings face the Lightning tonight (7:30 p.m., Versus, TSN2).

Backup Ty Conklin hasn’t started since Oct. 25, when the Wings lost on the road to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the second loss of what turned out to be a six-game winless skid. Babcock doesn't seem all that concerned about Howard getting burned out with so much action so soon in the season, though.

In fact, when asked about it after Wednesday's skate at Joe Louis Arena, the Red Wings coach sounded just a little sarcastic about his decision.

"What I did is, I kind of went through the League's stats and I saw all these goalies playing around 19 games (total) and I noticed Howie had played 19, so I thought he was playing good so … keep playing him," Babcock said. "Eventually, Conks is going to get an opportunity to play. Howie's going good. We like what he's doing. We think he's a young guy and he can play a lot."

Aside from letting in four goals in 39 minutes in a loss to the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 17, Howard has been solid-to-great through his streak of starts.

"He's earned the right over time to be a good goaltender in the League," Babcock said. "He spent a lot of time in the minors, he's worked on his fitness, the mental side of his game seems to have really come and he just seems to be a good goaltender in the League. We get excellent goaltending right now -- as good as we've had since I've been here, for sure."

DETROIT -- Fabian Brunnstrom is getting pretty familiar with the two-hour drive that separates Detroit and Grand Rapids, Mich.

That’s because the 26-year old Detroit Red Wings forward already has shuttled back and forth between the NHL and AHL Griffins three times in November while trying to find a regular spot with the Wings.

Tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning (7:30 p.m., Versus, TSN2), Brunnstrom will get another crack at playing in Detroit when he fills in at left wing on the third line, with center Darren Helm and Danny Cleary at right wing.

"It's going to be fun to play and I'm looking forward to the game," said Brunnstrom, who has 1 assist and a minus-2 rating in four NHL games this season. "I knew I probably picked the hardest forward lineup to break into (as a free agent), so I knew it was going to be hard. At the same time, I'm right where I want to be on this team. Now it's just taking the next step to get into the lineup (more often)."

Someone who will be watching eagerly is Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, who would like to see Brunnstrom tap into the skill set that made him a highly sought after free agent from Sweden in 2008.

After becoming just the third player in NHL history to record a hat trick in his NHL debut, Brunnstrom went on to have a solid first season in Dallas before seeing his production slide to the point where he played most of last season in the minors.

 Now Brunnstrom has another opportunity to show what he can do in the NHL.

"If you make good on that opportunity, you keep getting it and if you don't … eventually it slips away on you," Babcock said. "He's been in the League before. Actually he was a YouTube sensation or something like that. We were all recruiting him. Now he's back and he's earned his way to play on a team -- and now he's got to find a way to play every day on the team."

It also sounds like Brunnstrom might be at a crossroads moment in his career, according to Babcock.

"He's at the stage of his life where he's got to grab hold and find a way to not just have the puck, but get it to the net and get it to the scoring areas, to be hard out there," he said of Brunnstrom. "If he does that, then he has a chance to be a real good player. The ball's in his court. I'm looking forward to watching."

Making the situation even more interesting is that Brunnstrom's wife is pregnant and could go into labor at any moment.

"I would think that it doesn't affect me, but maybe it does some anyway,” Brunnstrom said after Detroit’s morning skate on Wednesday, prior to playing the Tampa Bay Lightning at Joe Louis Arena Wednesday night. “It’s a big thing in life, so I don’t know. I’m just trying to focus on the game when I’m here and when I go home I’ll focus on that.”

As for shuttling back and forth between Grand Rapids and Detroit so often – he’s been sent down and recalled three times each in just the month of November – Brunnstrom said he understands that it’s all just part of what he signed on for with the talent-laden Red Wings.

“It’s a tough lineup to get into (in Detroit), but it’s good to play some games (in Grand Rapids),” Brunnstrom said. “It’s a lot of miles on the car, though, driving back and forth.”

DETROIT -- Here is how the lineups could look for tonight's game between the Detroit Red Wings and visiting Tampa Bay Lightning. The game marks the return to Detroit of Tampa Bay GM Steve Yzerman.

LIGHTNING
Vincent Lecavalier - Martin St. Louis - Brett Connolly
Ryan Malone - Steven Stamkos - Teddy Purcell
Tom Pyatt - Dominic Moore - Ryan Shannon
Dana Tyrell - Nate Thompson - Adam Hall

Brett Clark - Pavel Kubina
Eric Brewer - Victor Hedman
Marc-Andre Bergeron - Matt Gilroy

Dwayne Roloson will get the start in net, with Mathieu Garon serving as the backup.

Forward Steve Downie likely will re-enter the lineup and play on the third line after missing the last three games due to an upper-body injury, but it's unclear who he will replace.

RED WINGS
Johan Franzen - Pavel Datsyuk - Todd Bertuzzi
Valtteri Filppula - Henrik Zetterberg - Jiri Hudler
Fabian Brunnstrom - Darren Helm - Danny Cleary
Drew Miller - Justin Abdelkader - Tomas Holmstrom

Nicklas Lidstrom - Ian White
Niklas Kronwall - Jonathan Ericsson
Jakub Kindl - Brad Stuart

Jimmy Howard will get his 16th straight start in net, while Ty Conklin will be on the bench as the backup.

For more on tonight's game, check out the preview here.

CHICAGO – He's not ready to rejoin the Phoenix Coyotes active lineup just yet, but Kyle Turris probably isn't far off from after recently signing with the team.

Turris, a restricted free agent, would have missed the entire 2011-12 season if he didn't reach an agreement on a new contract before Dec. 1, and at one point asked the Coyotes to trade him. Instead, they inked him to a new two-year deal, and all that's left to do now is get the 22-year old center -- taken by Phoenix with the third pick of the 2007 Entry Draft -- ready for games.

"He's come in in great shape," said Coyotes coach Dave Tippett, who got another look at Turris during this morning's skate in Chicago. "So far in practices he looks very good. He plays the game fast, his skill level and everything looks to be right in sync."

Turris still might need a conditioning stint with Portland in the American Hockey League, but that hasn't been determined yet. For now, he's with the Coyotes for practices but not games.

"We'll see where it goes for the next couple of days here and whether he has to go play a couple days in Portland  or whether we keep him up here," Tippett said. "That final decision hasn't been made yet, but the bright spot is he has come in and you can tell he has put a lot of
work in to get himself ready, so that's a real positive for us."

Just getting Turris back in the fold is a positive, almost akin to making a trade to get a solid player without having to give up anything in return.

"You're adding a good player," Tippett said of Turris, who had 11 goals and 14 assists in 65 games last season. "Sometimes the business part of the game comes into play and that was the case, but you're adding a player that can come in and I think can make an impact on our team."

Turris also appears to have added some muscle to his 6-foot-1, 195-pound frame, which Tippett thinks will help him improve even more in the middle.

"The other side of that (contract dispute) is he's a player that has worked on his strength and maturity and that extra month might have done him some good," Tippett said. "Time will tell on that, but he looks fit and looks strong and rested, ready to play."

As for his teammates understanding his situation after the contentious negotiations sometimes became public, Coyotes captain Shane Doan said it's not an issue.

"It's one of those things that you understand it's a business and the way that it goes and that obviously there are going to be times where, business-wise, you're going to try to take advantage of the way the system is set up," Doan said. "When it's set up in your favor, yeah, you should definitely use it. Other times, maybe not."

CHICAGO -- Here's how the lineups might look for Chicago and Phoenix in tonight's game at the United Center:

BLACKHAWKS
Viktor Stalberg - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Sharp
Daniel Carcillo - Patrick Kane - Marian Hossa
Andrew Brunette - Dave Bolland - Michael Frolik
Bryan Bickell - Marcus Kruger - Jamal Mayers

Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook
Nick Leddy - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Steve Montador - Sami Lepisto

Corey Crawford will get the start in net, with Ray Emery the backup.

Sean O'Donnell or John Scott also could draw in on defense, possibly in place of Lepisto.

COYOTES
Ray Whitney - Martin Hanzal - Radim Vrbata
Mikkel Boedker - Daymond Langkow - Shane Doan
Taylor Pyatt - Boyd Gordon - Lauri Korpikoski
Raffi Torres - Kyle Chipchura - Patrick O'Sullivan

Keith Yandle - Derek Morris
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Adrian Aucoin
Rostislav Klesla - David Schlemko

Mike Smith will get the start in net for Phoenix, with Jason LaBarbera the backup.

Cal O'Reilly could see time in the middle in the fourth line in place of Chipchura.

For more on tonight's game, check out the preview here.

CHICAGO -- The Hawks had a stopover in Las Vegas planned before the team left on its annual "circus trip," but some wondered whether they still would go after losing 9-2 in Edmonton just before they were supposed to arrive in Sin City.

They made the trip anyway and wound up using it as a way to get rid of the bitter memory of that stinging defeat.

"It was kind of a wake-up call, losing that game to Edmonton, because we didn't play at all the way we wanted to," forward Viktor Stalberg said after this morning's skate at the United Center. "That was the biggest thing, but it was nice to get away for a couple days. It was good for us to get away from (the loss) for a little bit."

That's because it was one of those losses that stuck in a lot people's minds who watched it, let alone watched first-hand from the receiving end.

"It's easy when you have a loss like that to keep overthinking things," Stalberg said. "The message in our locker room from the older guys was just, 'It's a loss. It doesn't matter if it's 2-1 or 9-2. We take the loss and move on from there.'"

Chicago then lost its next game in San Jose, but played much better in defeat before winning the final two games of the road trip, against the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings.

CHICAGO -- After being a healthy scratch for the first time this season Saturday against the Kings, gritty forward Daniel Carcillo will get back in the lineup tonight against the Coyotes.

Carcillo played left wing on the second line with Patrick Kane at center and Marian Hossa on the right side for much of the early part of the season, but Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville wasn't thrilled with Carcillo's effectiveness of late and decided to sit him out for a game.

The message came through loud and clear, according to Carcillo.

"I haven't been playing as well as I'd like to," said Carcillo, who didn't record a point and logged just four shots with a minus-3 rating in the five games preceding his benching. "Obviously, sitting out last game I'm not very happy about … so I'm ready to get back at it with a strong match."

What things will Quenneville be looking for from Carcillo?

"The biggest thing is being on the forecheck and being on the body and getting under people's skin," Carcillo said, following today's morning skate at the United Center. "That comes with skating and working hard and getting (my linemates) pucks and finishing my checks."

DETROIT -- Cory Emmerton won't be in the lineup Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena against the visiting Nashville Predators, but Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said it's not a decision based on his health.

Emmerton appeared to be hurt during a collsion at center ice with Boston Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, who was assessed a kneeing penalty on the play. Emmerton left the ice, but returned to finish the game.

He also participated in an optional morning skate on Saturday morning.

"I don't think it was intentional," Emmerton said of the hit. "It was just trying to make a hit there at center ice and I don't really know what happened, but (we) just kind of collided or whatever. It's more like a stretching of the leg than a direct hit on anything, so I was very fortunate."

Emmerton said there isn't much lingering pain and he could've played Saturday had Babcock called his number to go.

 "I don't think there's anything wrong besides a little bit of stiffness," said Emmerton, who has one goal and one assist in 18 games as the fourth-line center. "I'll take that any day over an injury. I feel fine."

DETROIT – Barry Trotz has been on the bench leading the Nashville Predators in every year of their existence, so he would know better than anybody just how far his team has come in terms of measuring up against the Detroit Red Wings.

Nashville has played the Wings as tough as any team in the League and took four of six regular-season games from them last year. The secret really isn’t a secret at all, according to Trotz. It’s just the Nashville organization growing and adapting to playing Detroit often as Central Division rivals.

“We’ve played them a lot,” said Trotz, whose Preds will try to break a three-game winless streak on Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena. “The one year we met them in the playoffs, we played them twice in the pre-season, played them six or eight times in the regular season and then played them six times in the playoffs. You start playing teams 15 times a year, you get a good feel for what their DNA is all about. That’s probably the biggest thing.”

Incremental increases in confidence that each close game brought also factors into it.

“I think over the course of time we’ve grown,” Trotz said. “We used to be almost terrified to come into the Joe the first couple years as an expansion team because they had the puck the whole time. Now (we have) great respect for what the Red Wings do as a team and organization, but not too much respect where you’re intimidated coming into the Joe. That’s probably been the biggest thing over the course of time that allows us to have success here.”