Chicago Blackhawks coach King would like to keep forward lines consistent
Common sense.
That's what interim coach Derek King used when putting his forward lines together with assistant Marc Crawford before the Blackhawks' 2-1 OT victory over Nashville on Sunday.
King placed the best players on the top two lines, then put a solid checking line together and tasked them with shutting down one of Nashville's tougher groups.
It worked well as the Hawks allowed just 21 shots on goal.
King believes Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane should play together and that Dominik Kubalik, Jonathan Toews and Brandon Hagel made a solid, dangerous second line. Unfortunately for Hagel, he was injured in the third period against Nashville. Jujhar Khaira skated with Toews and Kubalik when the Hawks hosted Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Khaira opened the scoring when he tapped home a pass from Toews at 2:14 of the second period.
Going forward King hopes the Hawks can develop some much-needed chemistry.
"I'd like to have a little consistency," King said. "We have a couple lines that we're going to look to keep together. But it's never perfect because you have injuries, you have call-ups, you have guys who get sick, or whatever it is. ...
"I can roll some lines pretty good and get the bingo balls out, just from coaching in the American League. But I would love to have four lines that play together for a long period of time just so they can get comfortable."
Entwistle on LTIR:
Forward MacKenzie Entwistle was placed on long-term injured reserve with an ankle injury. The 22-year-old had carved out a bottom-six role, doling out 30 hits in 12 games while adding 2 goals and an assist.
"He's worked hard to get to this level and for something like that to happen, it's kind of a step back for him," said interim coach Derek King. "I feel for him."
Slap shots:
Wyatt Kalynuk (ankle), Henrik Borgstrom (illness) and Tyler Johnson (neck) did not play against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, although Kalynuk took part in warmups. The defenseman, who was activated off long-term injured reserve, could make his season debut against Arizona on Friday. ... Jonathan Toews did not score in the Hawks' first 13 games. It's his longest goal-scoring drought to open a season. ... Patrick Kane's notched his 1,100th career point when he assisted on Alex DeBrincat's game-winning OT goal against Nashville on Sunday. ... Seth Jones' 11 assists led all blue liners through Monday's games.