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Savard wants more from defensemen 4-5-6

Blackhawks coach Denis Savard knows he has been relying heavily on the defense trio of Duncan Keith, Brian Campbell and Brent Seabrook in the first three games of the season.

"Probably a little too much at times," Savard said Tuesday. "We told these guys they're going to play a lot of minutes from day one, but I think our fourth and fifth and sixth guys have to play better. They have to make better decisions and make plays harder in their end."

That would be Brent Sopel and Jordan Hendry, each of whom played only 11 minutes in Monday's 3-2 loss to Nashville while Keith logged more than 31 minutes, Campbell more than 29 and Seabrook almost 24.

Even Aaron Johnson saw more minutes (19) than the struggling Sopel, who is already minus-4 in three games.

"Sopel's been a warrior for us and played well last year," Savard said. "We had a nice talk (Tuesday) and you're going to see him play better.

"Sopes has to get that edge he played on last year. Whether we play him 11 or 14 minutes, whatever, they have to be good, really good. But we're going to upgrade his minutes. He's doing things that he didn't do last year."

Eager to play: Left wing Ben Eager makes his regular-season debut tonight after serving a three-game suspension for swinging his stick at Dallas' Sean Avery during a preseason game.

"I wasn't happy with the suspension, but it's not my decision so I had to live with it and I'll learn from it," Eager said. "Obviously it wasn't the right thing to do, what I did, but it's over now and I'm ready to go."

Eager will skate on the fourth line even though he skated with Patrick Sharp and Dustin Byfuglien at practice Tuesday with Martin Havlat being rested.

"Now I've got to show them I can play and contribute," Eager said. "I got to be reliable in my own end and work hard every night."

Eager is expected to supply the Hawks with some much-needed muscle.

"He's got to be a physical player, that's his role and I expect him to do that," Denis Savard said.

Tip-ins: Martin Havlat was excused from practice Tuesday after playing more than 23 minutes against Nashville... Denis Savard won't name his starting goalie until today, but it's likely to be Nikolai Khabibulin barring a roster move.

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