Chicago Blackhawks (0-2-1) vs. Phoenix Coyotes (2-0-0)
Chicago TV: Comcast Sports Net (HD)
Chicago Radio: WGN (720 AM)
The Hawks come in tonight looking for their first win of the season in the fourth game of the year. I think it’s quite important that they get it tonight, if the winless streak continues the pressure is just going to build and make it harder for these guys to play a solid 60 minutes of hockey.
Phoenix has won both of their contests so far this season. They brought in Olli Jokinen over the off-season as well as draftees Kyle Turris, Mikkel Boedker and Viktor Tikhonov who are helping to revitalize the Coyotes’ offensive attack. Throw in Shane Doan as well and you have a tall task in trying to shut them down offensively.
The lineup is not out as of yet but if I had to guess I would say that Nikolai Khabibulin will probably get the start tonight in goal, after a less-than-stellar outing from Cristobal Huet in Monday’s loss to Nashville. Hopefully Khabby can have a good game, the offense gets going and this team can grab its first victory.
UPDATE (3:22 PM): delorean80 mentions in the game thread that Khabibulin is indeed starting tonight, per Comcast Sports Net.
UPDATE (7:09 PM): Tonight’s lineup is now out: