Pre-Game Capsule: Coyotes at Blackhawks

GAME 33:
Coyotes (7-20-5) at Blackhawks (13-11-5)
Looking to snap a three-game winless streak, Arizona will conclude a three-game trip with a matchup vs. the Blackhawks in Chicago.

WHERE: United Center
WHEN: 5 p.m. (AZ time)
TV: FOX Sports Arizona
RADIO:ESPN 620 AM
KEY FACTS:
• Arizona has lost seven games in a row vs. Chicago since beating the Blackhawks, 3-2, on Feb. 9, 2015.
• Scott Wedgewood will start in goal after serving as Antti Raanta's backup on Saturday in Columbus, a game the Coyotes lost 1-0. Wedgewood has never faced the Blackhawks in his 16-game NHL career. He will enter the game with a 3-5-3 record, a 2.97 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage this season.
• Oliver Ekman-Larsson needs to score one goal to move into a tie with Dave Ellett for second place on the franchise's list for goals by a defenseman. Ekman-Larsson has 94 goals, 14 behind Teppo Numminen, who tops that list with 108.
• Christian Fischer will play his first game as an NHLer at the United Center, which is about a 40-mile drive from his hometown of Wayne, Ill. Fischer grew up a Blackhawks fan and members of his family owned, and still own, season tickets. He's expecting many friends and family members to attend the game to watch him play. Fischer scored one of Arizona's two goals vs. Chicago back in October when the Blackhawks defeated the Coyotes, 4-2, in Glendale.

• This game is the second of back-to-back weekend games for the Coyotes, who lost at Columbus, 1-0, on Saturday night. Arizona is 0-3-1 in the second game of back-to-back games this season.
• Tonight's game will be Arizona's 21st road game of the season. Per Stats LLC, no other team in NHL history has played 21 road games in the first 66 days of a season, which the Coyotes will do tonight.
• Defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, whom Arizona acquired from Chicago for Connor Murphy last summer, is on the injured-reserve list because of an upper-body injury and will not play.
• The Blackhawks are 1-3-2 in their past six games and have scored just 13 goals during that stretch. With 31 points, Chicago is in sixth place in the seven-team Central Division. Patrick Kane leads the team with 27 points and 17 assists. Artem Anisimov and Alex DeBrincat co-lead the club with 12 goals apiece. Corey Crawford is expected to start in goal. He missed three recent games because of injury, but earned his 12th win of the season on Friday vs. Buffalo. Former Coyotes defenseman Connor Murphy has notched one goal and four assists in 26 games with Chicago.
COYOTE BITES:
• "It's a loud building. It's always been, so it's intimidating that way. But let's face it, when you've had Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith for as many years as they've been there, they can intimidate you with their speed. It's a good challenge for our young guys. Some of these guys have never played in this building ... It's going to be loud and you can't be intimidated by their players. Sure you respect players, but that doesn't mean you lay down. I want us to go hard at those kind of players, and these young guys have to realize that." -- Rick Tocchet on playing at the United Center

• "It's something I've been looking at on the calendar since I made this team. This is going to be a pretty cool experience. I grew up watching the Hawks play ever since I was seven years old. We've had season tickets here and still do to this day. It's going to be pretty cool to finally step on the ice where I've been watching hockey for my whole life. I'll have a ton of family and friends there, and it will be cool for them, too. Obviously, my family sacrificed a lot. This is just one of those cool moments where you just kind of get to sit back, take it all in and realize this is what you've dreamed of." -- Christian Fischer, who grew up near Chicago, on playing his first NHL game at United Center