Power play has plenty of options

Blackhawks coach Denis Savard is like a kid in a candy store when it comes to his options for the power play.

Savard now has weapons at his disposal such as Robert Lang, Yanic Perreault, Sergei Samsonov, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to call on to help improve what was the NHL's worst power play last season.

Savard has experimented in the first three preseason games, trying Martin Havlat at the left point, Kane along the half-boards and Toews down low on the goal line.

"I have a pretty good idea what I want to do," Savard said before Thursday's 1-0 loss to the Florida Panthers at the United Center that dropped the Hawks' preseason record to 1-2.

"We're going to have different units with different looks. We'll have a righty unit and a left-handed shot unit. It'll kind of sort itself out by the time we get to Oct. 4."

Savard used Havlat at the point for a time last season and doesn't mind having his best goal scorer so far away from the net.

"I like him there," Savard said. "I find him and Lang should have some chemistry on that side up on top. Havlat is going to be thrown around everywhere, really. He'll be in front of the net and in the slot. With the righty unit he'll be on the point."

Perreault certainly will be used around the net, where he has proved to be a dangerous power-play threat in his career.

"We're still trying to find the right position on the ice," Perreault said. "We've got players coming from different teams, so it's going to take a little time to adjust."

Savard wants to see 80 goals from his power play, something only five teams did last season. "Eighty will put us in the top 10, simple as that," he said.

Last season the Hawks had a league-low 43 power-play goals.

Hot hands: It was a night for the goaltenders Thursday as Florida's Craig Anderson, the former Hawk, made 38 saves to Corey Crawford's 26.

Crawford was sharp in what might be his only start before being assigned to Rockford for another season in the American Hockey League. There's simply no room for him behind veterans Nikolai Khabibulin and Patrick Lalime.

"If we make the decision to send him back, the message is to continue to get some wins down there, get in the playoffs like he did last year, win a round or two or three, and maybe win the (Calder) Cup down there," Denis Savard said. "He showed us a lot tonight."

Tip-ins: Rookie Patrick Kane didn't play Thursday but will be in the lineup tonight when Minnesota visits the UC. … Defenseman Duncan Keith has a slightly sore groin and is day to day.