The Blackhawks and Coyotes will face off for the second time in a five-day span Thursday night at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
The Blackhawks (12-13-6) squandered a 3-1 first-period period and fell 4-3 in a shootout to Arizona (18-11-4) on Sunday in Chicago. Jonathan Toews had a goal and two assists, and Robin Lehner made 44 saves in his first loss in six games against Arizona. The Blackhawks are 1-3-1 in their last five games against the Coyotes.
Chicago lost its second straight game with a 5-1 defeat against the Golden Knights on Tuesday in Las Vegas. The Blackhawks trailed 5-0 until the last 27 seconds of the game, when Dominik Kubalik scored a power-play goal for his eighth goal this season. He’s tied for second place in rookie goal scoring with Colorado’s Cale Makar behind Buffalo’s Victor Olofsson (12).
Defenseman Calvin de Haan went down with a right shoulder injury late in the first period and was placed on injured reserve Thursday after he was evaluated in Chicago. The Blackhawks brought eight defensemen on their three-game road trip, so it wasn’t a necessity for them to call one up from the AHL. Olli Maatta will return to the Blackhawks’ lineup after missing four games with an illness.
Arizona is tied for first place in the Pacific Division with the Oilers after a 5-2 home loss to the Flames on Tuesday. Calgary scored twice on four shots 4:03 into the game.
Jakob Chychrun scored, and Phil Kessel scored his third goal in his past five games for Arizona, which is 7-7-1 at home this season.
Carl Soderberg had a goal and assist against Chicago, and Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves for his third straight win. Soderberg has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past five games. Kuemper is expected to start against Chicago once again. He’s won his last two starts against the Blackhawks, including a 1-0 shoutout last season at home.
Need to know
Blackhawks head athletic trainer Mike Gapski will work his 2,500th regular-season NHL game Thursday. He’s worked under 13 head coaches during his 33-season career with Chicago.
Related
Mike Gapski, the NHL’s longest-tenured trainer, will work his 2,500th Blackhawks game tonight. And the lifelong Chicagoan shows no signs of slowing down.
THE VERDICT: Mike Gapski the Glue of Chicago’s Support Staff
Tale of the Tape
Blackhawks — Statistic — Coyotes
47.83% (25th) — Corsi For — 47.66% (27th)
49.0% (t-22nd) — Faceoffs — 48.7% (24th)
2.68 (22nd) — Goals per game — 2.61 (t-25th)
3.03 (14th) — Goals against per game — 2.36 (30th)
16.1% (22nd) — Power play — 21.2% (10th)
79.0% (t-19th) — Penalty kill — 80.6% (16th)
Lineups
BLACKHAWKS
Kubalik — Toews — Saad
DeBrincat — Strome — Kane
Smith — Kampf — Carpenter
Nylander — Dach — Highmore
Maatta — Murphy
Seabrook — Gustafsson
Gilbert — Boqvist
Lehner
Crawford
Scratched: Sikura
Injured: Drake Caggiula (concussion), Calvin de Haan (right shoulder), Duncan Keith (groin), Andrew Shaw (concussion)
COYOTES
Schmaltz — Dvorak — Fischer
Keller — Stephan — Hinostroza
Crouse — Soderberg — Kessel
Grabner — Richardson — Garland
Ekman-Larsson — Lyubushkin
Chychrun — Goligoski
Ness — Oesterle
Kuemper
Raanta
Scratched: Barrett Hayton, Robbie Russo
Injured: Jason Demers (knee), Niklas Hjalmarsson (fibula)
How to watch
When: 8 p.m.
Where: Gila River Arena; Glendale, Arizona
TV: NBC Sports Chicago
Live stream: NBC Sports app, NHL.TV