Blackhawks at Coyotes preview
Chicago, Arizona play for second time in five days
by Alan Robinson / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
BLACKHAWKS (12-13-6) at COYOTES (18-11-4)
9 p.m. ET; FS-A, FS-A PLUS, NBCSCH, NHL.TV
The Game
The Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes will play for the second time in five days at Gila River Arena on Thursday.
The Coyotes defeated the Blackhawks 4-3 in a shootout at United Center on Sunday to end a 3-1-0 road trip and are 5-3-2 in their past 10 games.
Arizona has won four of its past five against Chicago, which is 3-6-2 in its past 11.
The Blackhawks will play without defenseman Calvin de Haan (right shoulder), who was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 10.
Players to watch
Blackhawks rookie forward Dominik Kubalik has scored goals in back-to-back games for the first time in his NHL career.
Coyotes forward Phil Kessel has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past five games and has scored seven goals in 19 games against the Blackhawks.
They said it
"We haven't played the right brand on the road. When they start pushing with momentum, we've got to be able to weather that and know how to push through that and get the pucks going back our way." -- Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy on going 5-6-3 on the road
"There are some guys here who aren't ready to play at home they like are on the road. That's accountability. It's been addressed and I expect a better effort. We've got to start establishing an identity at home like we did at the last part of last year." -- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet on going 7-7-1 on home ice
Blackhawks projected lineup
Brandon Saad -- Jonathan Toews -- Dominik Kubalik
Alex DeBrincat -- Dylan Strome -- Patrick Kane
Matthew Highmore -- David Kampf -- Zack Smith
Alex Nylander -- Ryan Carpenter -- Kirby Dach
Olli Maatta -- Brent Seabrook
Erik Gustafsson -- Connor Murphy
Adam Boqvist -- Dennis Gilbert
Robin Lehner
Corey Crawford
Scratched: Dylan Sikura, Slater Koekkoek
Injured: Drake Caggiula (concussion protocol), Duncan Keith (groin), Andrew Shaw (concussion protocol), Calvin de Haan (shoulder)
Coyotes projected lineup
Nick Schmaltz -- Christian Dvorak -- Christian Fischer
Lawson Crouse -- Carl Soderberg -- Phil Kessel
Clayton Keller -- Derek Stepan -- Vinnie Hinostroza
Michael Grabner -- Brad Richardson -- Conor Garland
Jakob Chychrun -- Alex Goligoski
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Aaron Ness -- Jordan Oesterle
Darcy Kuemper
Antti Raanta
Scratched: Robbie Russo
Injured: Jason Demers (knee), Niklas Hjalmarsson (fibula)
Status report
Maatta (illness) said he will return after missing four games. … Keith remains week to week. … Demers is week to week.
Stat pack
Lehner is 5-0-1 with a 2.14 goals-against average, .936 save percentage and one shutout in six games against Arizona. … Chicago has scored a power-play goal in four consecutive games. … Keller has at least one point in seven of his past 10 games. … Arizona leads the NHL with five shootout wins.