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Posted On Friday, 04.20.2012 / 2:18 PM

By Brian Hedger -  NHL.com Correspondent /NHL.com - Coyotes vs. Blackhawks series blog

Hossa remains home as Hawks head to Phoenix

CHICAGO -- Marian Hossa did not travel with his Chicago Blackhawks teammates for Saturday's Game 5 of a Western Conference Quarterfinal series they trail 3-1 to the Phoenix Coyotes.

Hossa, who was knocked out of Game 3 in Chicago on Tuesday night by a hit from Raffi Torres, also missed Thursday night's Game 4 at United Center with what the team is calling an upper-body injury.

Hossa, who was Chicago's leader in points this season, apparently hasn't improved since he was released from the Northwestern Memorial Hospital late Tuesday night.

"He's the same [as he was on Thursday]," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said.

Torres was suspended indefinitely for the hit pending an in-person hearing at the League offices in New York on Friday afternoon.
Posted On Thursday, 04.19.2012 / 2:28 PM

By Brian Hedger -  NHL.com Correspondent /NHL.com - Coyotes vs. Blackhawks series blog

Projected Game 4 lineups

CHICAGO -- Injuries to key players for both the Chicago Blackhawks and Phoenix Coyotes have forced coaches Joel Quenneville and Dave Tippett to mix and match their forward lines for Thursday night's Game 4 of a Western Conference Quarterfinal series at the United Center.

They're likely to call on some new faces who just recently arrived from the minors, as well -- or junior hockey in the case of Chicago's Brandon Saad, who could find himself playing a role in the Blackhawks' top six group in place of injured Marian Hossa.

Here is a look at how both teams could line up when they take the ice at the Madhouse on Madison. Some of it, however, is just guesswork because neither team skated their forward line combinations during the morning skate sessions.

COYOTES
Ray Whitney - Antoine Vermette - Radim Vrbata
Marc-Antoine Pouliot - Daymond Langkow - Shane Doan
Taylor Pyatt - Boyd Gordon - Mikkel Boedker
Paul Bisonnette - Gilbert Brule - Kyle Chipchura

Keith Yandle - Derek Morris
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Adrian Aucoin
Rostislav Klesla - Michal Rozsival

Mike Smith
Jason LaBarbera

BLACKHAWKS
Brandon Saad - Jonathan Toews - Viktor Stalberg
Patrick Sharp - Marcus Kruger - Patrick Kane
Bryan Bickell - Dave Bolland - Michael Frolik
Andrew Brunette - Jamal Mayers - Brandon Bllig

Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook
Nick Leddy - Johnny Oduya
Niklas Hjalmarsson - Sean O'Donnell

Corey Crawford
Ray Emery
Posted On Thursday, 04.19.2012 / 1:58 PM

By Brian Hedger -  NHL.com Correspondent /NHL.com - Coyotes vs. Blackhawks series blog

Coyotes again without services of Hanzal, Korpikoski

CHICAGO -- The Phoenix Coyotes will again be without two key forwards on Tuesday night at the United Center for Game 4 of a Western Conference Quarterfinal series.

Center Martin Hanzal and forward Lauri Korpikoski will both miss their second straight game with undisclosed injuries -- meaning the Coyotes will again have to rely on their depth in an effort to extend their 2-1 lead in the series.

Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said the way the series has played out has confirmed his gut feeling that Phoenix has enough depth to last for a deeper run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"You hope you have that depth," Tippett said. "You don't know what you have until it actually gets thrown in there, so we're certainly getting tested right now. We've got some players that just finished up in Portland [of the Western Hockey League] and are with us now. They've been up and down a couple times this year throughout injuries, so hopefully that experience they got with our team will benfit us."

Phoenix just recently called up centers Marc-Antoine Pouliot and Alexandre Bolduc prior to Game 3 on Tuesday, so one or both could draw into the Coyotes' lineup somewhere. If they do, Tippett said he's comfortable with the kind of effort his team will get.

"They recognize this is going to be a very intense game," Tippett said. "Every play in the game is going to count and we expect them to jump in and do the job for us."

Hanzal (lower body) said he's feeling better and participated in the morning skate. He initially told reporters that he'd be a game-time decision, but Tippett pronounced him out not long afterward. Korpikoski (upper body) did not skate.
Posted On Thursday, 04.19.2012 / 1:52 PM

By Tim Cronin -  NHL.com Correspondent /NHL.com - Coyotes vs. Blackhawks series blog

Frolik getting chance to contribute with Shaw out

CHICAGO -- Chemistry is as mysterious in hockey as it is in the laboratory.

But Chicago's Dave Bolland sees the right ingredients in the line he'll center with Bryan Bickell and Michael Frolik in Thursday's fourth game of the Blackhawks' Western Conference Quarterfinal series with Phoenix.

That's understandable. Frolik, subbing for the suspended Andrew Shaw, scored one of Chicago's two goals in the 3-2 overtime loss in Game 3.

"Bicksie and Fro, we played together last year. This year we had some time together," Bolland said. "We all know what Fro's all about. He's fast, he's got a great shot, a little bit of that Martin Havlat in him, that speed going down the wing. Coming out of our own end, if I throw him the puck, I'm sure it's getting out of our zone."

On the outside, it appears Frolik's speed makes up for Shaw's grit. But Bolland believes Frolik can handle the tough stuff as well.

"He gets in the corner, gets dirty," Bolland said of Frolik, three inches taller and 18 pounds heavier than Shaw. "We use them the same way, but they're different players."

What Frolik wasn't during the season was productive. He scored only five goals and 15 points, and was a minus-10 in 63 games, the reason he was a healthy scratch in 17 of the last 33 regular-season games, and the first two games of the series. The last 10 regular-season scratches came after Shaw was recalled for good from Rockford.
Posted On Thursday, 04.19.2012 / 12:54 PM

By Brian Hedger -  NHL.com Correspondent /NHL.com - Coyotes vs. Blackhawks series blog

No change in Hossa's condition Thursday

CHICAGO -- Marian Hossa's physical condition has not changed since being released from a hospital emergency room Tuesday night.

The Chicago Blackhawks' star forward was knocked to the ice on a check in the neutral zone by Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres in Game 3 of a Western Conference Quarterfinal series at the United Center and taken off on a stretcher.

He left the hospital under his own power, but is said to have an upper body injury and will not play in Game 4 Thursday night. His prognosis for any further games is also unknown, as Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville is keeping information on it closely guarded.

"There's no change," Quenneville said after Thursday's morning skate. "Spoke to him yesterday and he's feeling the same as the last two days. I'm not going to go any further with it than where we are today."
Posted On Wednesday, 04.18.2012 / 5:28 PM

By Tim Cronin -  NHL.com Correspondent /NHL.com - Coyotes vs. Blackhawks series blog

Hawks ready to channel anger

CHICAGO -- The Stanley Cup Playoffs can be an exercise in anger management. The Western Conference Quarterfinal series between Phoenix and Chicago is becoming a graduate course in the subject.

Players and coaches on both sides tried to rein in their emotions Wednesday, less than a day after the Blackhawks' Marian Hossa was taken off the ice on a stretcher after the Coyotes' Raffi Torres hit Hossa's chin with his shoulder early in Game 3 at the United Center.

Phoenix went on to win 3-2 on an overtime goal from Mikkel Boedker. Game 4 is Thursday.

Hossa, who was released from the hospital Tuesday night, will miss at least Game 4. Torres has been suspended indefinitely pending an in-person hearing at the League office on Friday.

A night after tempers ran high in the Blackhawks' locker room, they were a bit more measured on Wednesday. Chicago captain Jonathan Toews ruled out retaliation against a random Coyote.

"Getting into that garbage isn't going to win the series for us," Toews said.

Said defenseman Duncan Keith, "We've got to play hockey and play the right way."

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville, who has to revamp a lineup that now is without Hossa and the suspended Andrew Shaw, wants his players to channel their emotions properly.

"I think retaliation in the best form is trying to win the hockey game," Quenneville said. "I think we want to channel a little positiveness to looking forward to the game and doing something about it."

Posted On Wednesday, 04.18.2012 / 5:22 PM

By Tim Cronin -  NHL.com Correspondent /NHL.com - Coyotes vs. Blackhawks series blog

Nearing unchartered territory for Coyotes

CHICAGO -- One more overtime game, and the Phoenix Coyotes go into uncharted territory. They've never played four overtime games in a playoff year, much less a playoff series, and that goes back to their identity as the original Winnipeg Jets.

Now they've played three in a row, winning twice, in the first three games of their series with Chicago.

Only once before did the Coyotes engage in overtime three times in a series. They lost two of three overtime games in a seven-game set with St. Louis in 1999, the Blues winning Game 7 in regulation. The franchise's only back-to-back overtime games before this series came in games 6 and 7 of the 1993 series against Vancouver. Teemu Selanne won Game 6 for the Jets, but the Canucks won Game 7.

This is more old hat for the Blackhawks. They played four overtime games, winning the first two and losing the last two, against Colorado in the second round of the 1996 playoffs.

The Hawks have even played three overtime games in a row before, doing so against the Minnesota North Stars in the second round of the 1985 playoffs. Including the last two games of last year's first round series with Vancouver, they've played five straight overtime games, a team record.
Posted On Wednesday, 04.18.2012 / 5:16 PM

By Tim Cronin -  NHL.com Correspondent /NHL.com - Coyotes vs. Blackhawks series blog

Overtime a study in contrasts for two sides

CHICAGO -- The two schools of thought on how to play overtime were on display again in Game 3 of the Phoenix-Chicago Western Conference Quarterfinal series.

The Blackhawks were skating, trying to force the issue. The Coyotes played it tight, waiting for a break.

The Coyotes' method worked for the second time in three sudden-death sessions. Mikkel Boedker's shot, and Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford's admitted misplay, gave Game 3, and a 2-1 series lead, to the Coyotes.

That's how overtime has to be played, Phoenix defenseman Keith Yandle said.

"In overtime, you're trying not to make mistakes," Yandle said. "One shot and it can be over. So you play tight defensively and cash in when you get the chance."

Getting those changes, whether in overtime or regulation, will be harder to find as the series progresses. Cement in the legs became common in the minutes jest before Boedker scored.

"The first couple of games, there's a lot of adrenaline," said Phoenix defenseman Adrian Aucoin, who played for the Hawks for two seasons. "As a series progresses, it starts taking its toll on players. And in overtime, you try to end it on every shift. That takes a toll."

Aucoin sees a long series.

"We're two different teams, but we're matched well," he said.

What he didn't have to mention was the hex the Coyotes have on the Hawks in the United Center. Phoenix is 3-0 on West Madison St. this season, winning both games in the regular season.
Posted On Tuesday, 04.17.2012 / 2:56 PM

By Tim Cronin -  NHL.com Correspondent /NHL.com - Coyotes vs. Blackhawks series blog

Smith skates, game-time decision for Coyotes

CHICAGO -- Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith took part in the Coyotes' light morning skate Tuesday, but there was no word from him or coach Dave Tippett on whether Smith or Jason LaBarbara would be in goal when Phoenix faced the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 of their Western Conference Quarterfinal series.

"It's a game-time decision," Tippett said, extending that to center Martin Hanzal as well.

Smith's status went from his self-proclaimed "100 percent" to questionable when he was held out of the Coyotes' practice on Monday. 

Tippett, displeased with a string of questions about Smith, finally said, "We don't have to tell everybody why a player practices or not."

Smith, hit behind the net in a shoulder-to-chin check by Chicago's Andrew Shaw in Game 2, was not made available for comment. Shaw was suspended for three games on Tuesday afternoon.

If LaBarbara plays, the Coyotes will hardly miss a beat. His 3-9-3 regular season record is deceiving, with his 2.54 goals-against average more indicative of his play. In his only appearance against Chicago this season, he stopped 30 of 35 shots in a 5-2 loss to the Hawks on Oct. 18.

"I know LaBarbera's played well against the Hawks a few times in his career," Chicago center Patrick Sharp said. "I don't think it changes it too much, to be honest with you."

Hanzal (lower body) participated in the two-on-two drills, but left wing Lauri Korpikoski (upper body) is out, Tippett said. He was in workout clothes and didn't take part in the skate.

Shaw, who will be eligible to return for a potential Game 6 of the series, is expected to be replaced by Michael Frolik at right wing on the Hawks' third line.
Posted On Tuesday, 04.17.2012 / 2:52 PM

By Tim Cronin -  NHL.com Correspondent /NHL.com - Coyotes vs. Blackhawks series blog

For Blackhawks, local hotel is home away from home

CHICAGO -- Playoff rituals come in all shapes and sizes. One for the Chicago Blackhawks is staying on the road even while at home.

Rather than go home after Tuesday’s morning skate, they checked into a hotel, all part of the "One Goal" atmosphere in the locker room.

For Patrick Kane, that means he doesn't have to cook a pre-game meal.

"We've had success on the road, so you try to keep it that way," Kane said of the plan. "It's fine with a lot of players. If we're going home, we're taking a nap anyway and waking up and going to the rink. There's a nice pre-game meal, so that's a perk, I guess."
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