The Blackhawks only lost eight regular season games at home last year (29-8-4 record), but have already dropped six of the first ten at the United Center in the 2010-11 season. As a result, coach Joel Quenneville is going to shake up some of his lines and pairings:
In addition to moving Patrick Kane to left wing on a line with Marian Hossa and center Tomas Kopecky for the Hawks' game against the Coyotes on Wednesday night, coach Joel Quenneville plans to at times separate the top defensive pairing of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook.
"Tonight we're going to try to find a little bit more balance in our pairs and our minutes," Quenneville said following the morning skate at the United Center. "Hopefully that makes everybody more effective and more consistent in our team game as well as their own games."
The Coyotes, 3-3-4 on the season, are in the final game of a three-game stretch playing the last three Stanley Cup champions (the Blackhawks, Red Wings and Penguins). They lost in overtime to Detroit and lost to Pittsburgh in a shootout. Phoenix is without its arguably best player, Shane Doan, who is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. Marty Turco is expected to start in goal tonight for the Blackhawks. The game begins at 7:30 p.m. CST and will be televised on CSN Chicago.