The Chicago Blackhawks look for their third straight win when they host the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday at United Center.
The Hawks have won the previous two meetings against the Coyotes, including a 4-3 victory Feb. 2 at Arizona. That victory was the start of the Hawks’ 7-3 stretch this month.
Jonathan Toews scored five points (three goals, two assists) to lead Chicago to a 5-3 victory over Western Conference-leading Minnesota on Tuesday. In all, the newly-formed top line of Nick Schmaltz, Toews and Richard Panik accounted for five goals and five assists in the win. Schmaltz has seven points in his last six games while Panik has nine points in the same span.
And while the top line as been clicking, one area the Hawks have struggled is the power play. Chicago went 0 for 8 on the man advantage in its last three games. However, they face Arizona’s 26th ranked penalty kill (77.1 percent).
Chicago will see a blue line from Arizona, who traded defenseman Michael Stone to Calgary on Monday. Two other Coyote players whose names have been in many trade rumors are Martin Hanzal and Radim Vrata. Hanzal is increasing his trade stock with five goals in last six games ahead of the March 1 trade deadline. Vrata also is filling up the scoresheet with a six-game point streak.
Chicago is likely to turn to Corey Crawford in net. Crawford made 29 saves against Minnesota in his first start since the home loss to Edmonton on Feb. 18. He stopped 27 of 30 shots against Arizona earlier this month.
Arizona goaltender Mike Smith was forced to leave Monday’s 3-2 win over Anaheim after a collision with Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg, which knock Smith’s mask off. Smith exited less than 5 minutes into the third period, leaving Marek Langhamer to man the crease in his NHL debut. Langhamer allowed one goal and stopped seven shots in relief.
For more on the Coyotes, visit SB Nation’s Five For Howling.
Lineups
Blackhawks
Forwards
Schmaltz-Toews-Panik
Panarin-Anisimov-Kane
Rasmussen-Kruger-Hossa
Hartman-Kero-Hinostroza
Defensemen
Keith-Hjalmarsson
Kempny-Seabrook
Campbell-TVR
Goalie
Crawford
Darling
Coyotes
Forwards
Domi-Hanzal-Vrbata
Perlini-Dvorak-Doan
McGinn-Burmistrov-Jooris
Rieder-Martinook-White
Defensemen
Ekman Larsson-Schenn
Goligoski-Murphy
Chychrun-Connauton
Goalie
Smith
Langhamer
*Lines will be updated if necessary
How to watch Coyotes at Blackhawks
Time: 7:30 p.m. CST
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: NBCSN
Live stream: NBC Sports Live