Goalie situation being monitored

When it comes to his goaltending, Blackhawks coach Denis Savard isn't looking any further than tonight's game in Nashville against the Predators when Patrick Lalime draws the start.

With Nikolai Khabibulin struggling mightily, a good showing by Lalime might prompt Savard to ride the backup a bit.

A poor showing by Lalime could force general manager Dale Tallon and his staff to give serious consideration to recalling Corey Crawford from Rockford, where he is 17-9-5 with a 2.62 goals-against average and .912 save percentage.

"I'm not giving up on any of our guys; I'm not giving up on Habby," Savard said Saturday. "He's played some solid games for us.

"I'm going with Patty (tonight). He deserves a start, No. 1 here, because I thought he was phenomenal in Montreal. We'll take it one game at a time here."

Khabibulin was on the ice early for practice Saturday to work with goalie coach Stephane Waite. Watching the drills closely was Savard.

With Friday's 5-2 loss to Minnesota, Khabibulin saw his save percentage drop to .898 with 4 goals allowed on 15 shots. The Wild scored an empty-net goal late with Khabibulin pulled for a sixth attacker.

In three seasons with the Hawks since signing a four-year, $27 million contract, the richest in team history, Khabibulin is 57-68-14 with 1 shutout.

Coaching visual: With the Hawks struggling to score goals, Denis Savard took a different approach prior to Saturday's practice.

Savard brought a net into the dressing room to remind his players it's bigger than they think.

Too many shots of late by the Hawks have been aimed right at the goaltender.

"I wanted to remind them it's a big net," Savard said. "There's a lot of room. When you see them on the ice in a big building they don't look so big, but in a room they look pretty big."

Savard made a special point to remind Patrick Kane he has a lot of net to shoot at. Kane has only 2 goals in the last 27 games.

"(Adam) Burish looked at it awhile," joked Savard.

Burish still is without a goal in 44 games.

Welcome addition: Defenseman Brent Sopel's return from a broken finger Friday couldn't have gone much better even though the Hawks lost.

Sopel had a goal and played a solid 19 minutes.

"It felt great to be back, but I wasn't too worried about my story. I was more concerned with the 2 points," Sopel said.

"He settles down the defense," Denis Savard said. "Experience is a big thing."

Tip-ins: Martin Lapointe is questionable for tonight's game with a sore back. … According to the NHL, the Hawks for the month of December experienced a 92 percent increase in merchandise sales from the previous year.