Arizona Coyotes (8-12-4) at Chicago Blackhawks (16-8-3) 7:30PM Central/6:30 Mountain/5:30 Pacific CSN-Chicago/FS Arizona+
STARTING GOALIES:
Arizona: Mike Smith Chicago: Scott Darling
STATS:
GOALS PER GAME: Arizona 2.29 Chicago 2.67
GOALS AGAINST: Arizona 3.13 Chicago 2.48
POWER PLAY Arizona 15.3% Chicago 15.7%
PENALTY KILL Arizona 80.8% Chicago 70.7%
SHOTS FOR/AGAINST Arizona 28.5/35.4 Chicago 28.7/31.2
NOTES:
Jonathan Toews was on the ice at Hawks' practice yesterday and ran some drills with the team. My gut hunch is he does not play tonight—however, that's a guess based on limited information and a somewhat pessimistic assessment 2 days ago.
I had the chance to watch the Coyotes play the Blue Jackets last night. This Arizona team has some nice young players, but also some defensive weaknesses, and they seemed to melt down emotionally after a bad non-call (way to go, again, War Room) gave Columbus an important goal. Still, the Coyotes will be looking for an early advantage tonight versus the Hawks, and they are capable of taking it if Chicago comes out flat.
Which leads back to the Hawks, "riding" a 2-game losing streak and looking for some answers in every area, except perhaps goaltending, where backup Scott Darling has been good to very good, especially in his last start versus Winnipeg.
I’ll recap tomorrow.
JJ
GET ‘EM PUCK GEAR FOR THE HOLIDAYS!
Check out my friends at www.puckhcky.com for uber-cool hockey themed hats, shirts, hoodies, stickers and more—including the personal clothing line of Marian Hossa, with special 500 Goal gear as well.