Khabibulin hoping to build on Detroit win
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Blackhawks coach Denis Savard doesn't think Nikolai Khabibulin has played poorly over the last few weeks -- and the veteran goaltender agrees.
But when Khabibulin plays tonight in Nashville against the Predators, it will be only his second start in the last five games.
Khabibulin was outstanding in Sunday's win over Detroit, showing that the time off to work with goalie coach Stephane Waite served him well.
"I'm not really thinking about anything," Khabibulin said. "I have Steph think about it, what I need to work on. You can always play better, I guess. The last game was pretty good, a lot to build on going forward."
After a strong start, Khabibulin lost three of four starts in late October. He was also pulled from the Hawks' 5-2 loss to Nashville on Nov. 4 at the United Center.
"I don't think I played bad, personally," Khabibulin said. "I think as a team we didn't play as well. We played a couple good games and lost, but some games we just didn't play well.
"We're still a young team and we're still a little inconsistent at times. Sometimes it's game to game, sometimes it could be shift to shift. We could be playing a great game for 55 minutes and we can make a couple mistakes."
That's partly the result of a defense that is still on the young side. In Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the Blue Jackets, Duncan Keith was minus-3 and Brent Seabrook minus-2.
"We still have some young guys (on defense)," Khabibulin said. "They've been playing very well, but sometimes you have to learn some things, like when to make plays and when not to make plays, realizing what time on the clock it is.
"But they're improving. In my three years I've been here they've improved quite a bit, and I think it's only going to get better."
Balancing act: After some early-season tinkering, Denis Savard likes how his four lines are stacking up.
"I like the balance, what they bring, the grit, skill; they just fit well together," Savard said. "Right now, I don't expect to make any changes no matter what's going on here. You want to build some type of chemistry among each other. We want to keep them as long as we can."
Like a sauna: Nikolai Khabibulin got so dehydrated in Sunday's game against Detroit that he lost 12 pounds, about four more than he normally does.
"I haven't figured why," Khabibulin said. "It was hot in the building."
Tip-ins: Defenseman Brent Sopel couldn't play Wednesday because of the flu and is questionable tonight against Nashville. … Magnus Johansson replaced Sopel, dressing for the first time in six games, and played 16 minutes with an assist. … Sergei Samsonov has gone 13 games without a goal.