Blackhawks at Coyotes preview

BLACKHAWKS (4-2-2) at COYOTES (0-6-1)
9 p.m. ET; FS-A PLUS, NBCSCH, NHL.TV

The Blackhawks are 8-0-1 in their past nine games against the Coyotes, and have not lost in regulation to Arizona since a 2-0 defeat on Feb. 7, 2014.
The Coyotes, the only NHL team that has not won a game this season, are off to their slowest start in franchise history.
Coyotes defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson and Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy each will face his former team for the first time; Chicago traded Hjalmarsson to Arizona for Murphy and forward Laurent Dauphin on June 23.

Players to watch

Coyotes forward Clayton Keller leads all rookies with five goals. Keller had two goals and an assist in a 5-4 loss against the Dallas Stars on Thursday, and has nine points (five goals, four assists) in 10 career NHL games.
Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane has one goal and three assists in a four-game point streak, and leads Chicago with 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in eight games.

They said it

"We've got eight guys and we feel they've all been fine for us. Everybody's got a chance to play now, and so we have some decisions to make on a game-to-game basis." -- Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville on rotating his defensemen
"It's going to be a little weird in the beginning, I bet, to face my old teammates. It's all new and I'm looking forward to the game." -- Coyotes defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson

Blackhawks projected lineup

Brandon Saad -- Jonathan Toews -- Richard Panik
Ryan Hartman -- Nick Schmaltz -- Patrick Kane
Patrick Sharp -- Artem Anisimov -- Alex DeBrincat
Lance Bouma -- Tommy Wingels -- John Hayden
Duncan Keith -- Brent Seabrook
Gustav Forsling -- Jan Rutta
Jordan Oesterle -- Connor Murphy
Corey Crawford
Anton Forsberg
Scratched: Michal Kempny, Tanner Kero, Cody Franson
Injured: Michal Rozsival (upper body)

Coyotes projected lineup

Max Domi -- Derek Stepan -- Clayton Keller
Jordan Martinook -- Christian Dvorak -- Tobias Rieder
Lawson Crouse -- Nick Cousins -- Christian Fischer
Zac Rinaldo -- Mario Kempe -- Anthony Duclair
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Jason Demers
Niklas Hjalmarsson -- Alex Goligoski
Kevin Connauton -- Luke Schenn
Louis Domingue
Adin Hill
Scratched: Adam Clendening
Injured: Antti Raanta (lower body), Jakob Chychrun (knee), Brendan Perlini (upper body), Brad Richardson (lower body)

Status report

Raanta will miss his fourth straight game with a muscle strain in his lower body. Raanta skated on his own Saturday, the first time he has skated since leaving after the first period in a 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 12. … Perlini will miss his fifth straight game, and Richardson will be a game-time decision. … Chychrun skated on his own Saturday, the first time he has skated since knee surgery Aug. 3. General manager John Chayka said Chychrun remains out indefinitely.

Stat pack

Kane has 42 points (14 goals, 28 assists) in 32 career games against Arizona. … Stepan has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past five games.