Hawks shuffle their defensive deck

The Blackhawks shook up the defense Sunday, sending Jordan Hendry to Rockford with the intention of recalling Cam Barker today in time to play at Minnesota.

Rookie defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson also was sent to Rockford to play his way back into shape. Hjalmarsson hasn't played since suffering a rib injury on opening night.

In another interesting twist, Dustin Byfuglien took part in several drills on defense at practice Sunday after being used on the blue line in overtime in Saturday's 6-5 shootout loss to Detroit.

"It was just the situation in the game where they felt we had enough forwards that kind of do that 4-on-4 stuff, so I guess they thought to just throw me back there and see what happens," Byfuglien said. "It was a little different being back there seeing the game again like that, but it was nice to get back on that side.

"He (coach Joel Quenneville) told me we might need you a little but back there, but I'm just ready to focus on what I do that night, whatever my job is."

Quenneville wouldn't commit to using Byfuglien on defense any more than in certain spots.

"That might have been a little tough indoctrination for him, going 4-on-4 against Detroit, but we did some more drills with him (Sunday)," Quenneville said.

"We have confidence he's able to do some things. He can support the attack and he's a big body. His versatility as we go along might become more valuable to our season."

Hendry simply didn't play well enough to merit getting more than 10-11 minutes a night.

"We think he can help us and will help, but we want him to play more minutes and get his game where it needs to be," Quenneville said. "We still think he can improve his game and help us as we go along this year."

General manager Dale Tallon still is looking for help on defense in terms of muscle to take some of the pressure off Duncan Keith, Brian Campbell and Brent Seabrook to play big minutes.

Brent Sopel played only 11 minutes against Detroit and is minus-6 in seven games.

Upon further review: A day later Sunday, Joel Quenneville still liked a lot of what he saw in the loss to Detroit.

"They're a great team," Quenneville said. "Their skill level is above every team. They have a lot of creativity, and they know how to play different type of games, but I think we did a lot of good things against them. We got 40 shots against a team that doesn't normally give up many."

Huet to start: Cristobal Huet will make only his third start of the season tonight against the Wild.

It's a Minnesota team that still hasn't lost in regulation or allowed a power-play goal.

"Their penalty-killing frustrates you on your entries and frustrates you on your setup because they're really positionally sound and have good sticks," Joel Quenneville said.