The annual "Circus Trip," in which the Chicago Blackhawks go on a long road trip so Barnum and Bailey's can occupy the United Center, is a rite of fall for the Hawks. Trips that long are not easy. Just two years ago Chicago had a lengthy road trip that coincided with a nine-game losing streak which led to rumors coach Joel Quenneville's job was on the line.

This season, Chicago's "Circus Trip" pitted it against stiff competition, including the Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks and Phoenix Coyotes, to add to the rigors of seven games and nearly two weeks living out of a suitcase. The Blackhawks may have dropped the first game, but they responded, amazingly, by winning the last six in a row, including a dominant 5-2 win in Phoenix against the stingy Coyotes to put an exclamation point on the trip.

To me, this says that not only are the Blackhawks a team you need to consider on the short list of Stanley Cup contenders -- after all, we already know that -- but this team is now a little tougher than it used to be. The Blackhawks are turning into the Detroit Red Wings of the late 1990s or the New York Islanders of the early 1980s. They expect to win every game and they expect to have a shot at the Stanley Cup every year. They've got that mentality where they think, "Why can't we win every year? Why should we have a down year?"

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Philadelphia Flyers will be without leading goal-scorer Vincent Lecavalier on Monday against the Minnesota Wild. The veteran has back spasms which began during the third period of the Flyers' 3-2 shootout win Saturday at the Nashville Predators.

Lecavalier, who leads the Flyers with nine goals, finished the game Saturday and scored the deciding goal in the shootout. But with four games left on their road trip, the team thought it best to give Lecavalier the night off. Brayden Schenn is expected to take over Lecavalier's second-line center spot.

"We're losing a very good centerman," Flyers coach Craig Berube said. "Brayden Schenn has played a lot of center and it's a good opportunity for him to slide in there. He's played center pretty well his whole life."

NEW YORK -- Winnipeg Jets forward Evander Kane will not play Monday against the New York Rangers after sustaining a lower-body injury early in the second period of a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday. In Kane's absence, John Albert, who was recalled Sunday from the Jets' American Hockey League affiliate in St. John's, will make his NHL debut.

"It's day-to-day. [Evander] won't be in the game tonight. So we'll just take it from there," Jets coach Claude Noel said, making clear what he expected from Albert in his first NHL game. "He just needs to be able to hold his own. He has to trust the way he plays. He's been good on faceoffs, he's been good on penalty kills. He's a guy who plays with speed. He just needs to earn the trust of the coaches and the staff."

NEW YORK -- New York Rangers goaltender Cam Talbot got a text message from his coaching staff Sunday that simply read "Be ready."

The 26-year-old, who has a 6-1-0 record and leads the NHL entering action Monday in goals-against average (1.49) and save percentage (.944), suspected the text meant he would be starting consecutive games for the first time in his brief NHL career. But at the time he wasn't sure.

He's sure now after coach Alain Vigneault revealed Monday that Talbot will start in net for the Rangers against the Winnipeg Jets. It's the first time goaltender Henrik Lundqvist has sat out consecutive games since February 2011. But Vigneault downplayed any talk of a controversy.

"Cam has played extremely well right now. He's got a lot of confidence in his abilities and for tonight's game I just thought that was the right call," Vigneault said. "Henrik is definitely the No. 1 goaltender on this team. He's proven that over the years he's one of the best if not the best in the National Hockey League. But for tonight's game I feel the best thing for us is to go with Cam."

BROSSARD, Quebec -- The New Jersey Devils have historically been a team known for their ability to slow the play down and shut down the opposition, no matter their offensive strength.

But of late, it is their opponents Monday night, the Montreal Canadiens, who have been the defensive juggernauts.

The Canadiens enter the game Monday at Bell Centre having allowed two goals or fewer in 10 straight games, riding a 7-1-2 record over that span.

"We're focusing on playing solid defensively and taking time and space away. It's the same thing with any team," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. "Right now we have a healthy lineup and there's a healthy internal competition. I think it's good. But we want to be a team that dictates the game, and this is what we've been doing. The guys, with their work ethic, are doing a good job at it."

Thatcher Demko is a goaltender playing his freshman season with Boston College. The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder played his minor hockey in southern California before joining the U.S. National Team Development Program last season. Demko has offered to maintain a monthly blog for NHL.com that will chronicle his season leading up to the 2014 NHL Draft.

Hi guys.

This has been a crazy month. The team has been progressing great and we still have a lot more potential to works toward. We had a bit of a slot start to the season, but since the start of November we’ve been real good. We won our first five games to start the month, and we’re 4-1-1 on the season in the conference, so that’s been a good thing.

The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductions take place Monday night in Detroit, and NHL Live with Steve Mears and E.J. Hradek, at 5 p.m. ET on NHL Network, will set the stage by talking to important figures in the game as Doug Weight, Bill Guerin and Peter Karmanos are enshrined along with Ron Mason and Cindy Curley.

NHL Insider Bob McKenzie also joins the show and we'll have analyst Barry Melrose revealing his best coach, player and team from the month of November while previewing what's coming up this month. There are four games on the schedule Monday night.

Steve and E.J. will take a look at a lucky fan's #NHLMoment from the month of November. Also remember to submit your #AskEJ questions through Twitter via @NHLNetwork or @EJHradek_NHL, and join the conversation on Twitter as we ask you to pick the game of the night.

The officiating crews for the 2014 Sochi Olympics were announced by the International Ice Hockey Federation on Monday.

The men's tournament will have a mix of officials from the National Hockey League and international levels. The international officials were selected by the IIHF officiating committee from a pool of 32 candidates for the men's tournament and 22 for the women's.

"All of these candidates are considered to be top officials in their respective club leagues," IIHF officiating manager Konstantin Komissarov said in a statement. "We made our decisions on three main criteria: physical conditioning, performance in their respective national championships, and their ability to work in a team."

The NHL is well represented with seven referees and six linesmen of the 28 total officials (14 referees and linesmen each). Among the referees are NHL veterans Dave Jackson, Mike Leggo, Brad Meier, Tim Peel, Kevin Pollock, Kelly Sutherland and Ian Walsh. Sweden's Marcus Vinnerborg, a one-time NHL referee, will appear in his second Olympic tournament.

DALLAS -- Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin, who leads the team with 12 goals, will miss the game Sunday night against the Edmonton Oilers due to concussion-like symptoms. Seguin, who joined Dallas in a July 4 trade with the Boston Bruins, had been called a game-time decision earlier in the day by Stars coach Lindy Ruff.

Seguin had missed two practices earlier in the week with what was termed a muscle issue, but he appeared to be fine in a 2-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday at American Airlines Center.

OTTAWA -- Ottawa Senators defenseman Marc Methot was a late scratch for the game against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday.

Methot was replaced in the lineup by Jared Cowen, who was originally going to sit out a second straight game as a healthy scratch.