Quenneville pleased with Kane-Sharp pairing
LOS ANGELES - For the most part, Joel Quenneville has kept the lines intact since taking over as Blackhawks coach, but that might be about to change.
Quenneville moved Patrick Kane to center Patrick Sharp's line in Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Kings and liked what he saw.
Kane and Sharp each scored a goal.
"The lines were pretty consistent for a long period of time for us," Quenneville said. "But when you don't score is when I want to try different things and see how different combinations are going to look.
"They seem to have a nice little bit of chemistry amongst each other. Whether it's a regular shift or a power play together, there's something there."
Sharp has been centering for Martin Havlat and Troy Brouwer, but spent most of last year on the same line with Kane.
"He's a pretty easy guy to play with," Sharp said. "I feel like I have an understanding with what he wants to do with the puck out there. He likes to find guys, but we'll see what the coaches want to do.
"As players we just go out there and play with the guys that are written on the board and try to make it work the best we can."
Looking ahead: All indications are that if Nikolai Khabibulin returns this week it would be Saturday at Detroit and not Wednesday against Anaheim at the United Center.
The Hawks continue to insist the lower body injury Khabibulin suffered at San Jose last Wednesday is not serious.
Cristobal Huet made his second straight start Saturday against the Kings and made 23 saves, though he allowed a few rebounds including one on Derek Armstrong's goal in the third period that snapped a 2-2 tie.
It was the first time this season Huet started two games in a row.
"Obviously, anytime somebody is injured there's a chance for somebody else," Huet said.
Managing the cap: As of Saturday, the Hawks were only $257,000 under the NHL salary cap.
The next big decision for general manager Dale Tallon is what to do when defenseman James Wisniewski and his $900,000 cap hit comes off the long-term injury list.
Wisniewski, who underwent knee surgery during the summer, is shooting for a Dec. 12 return at Colorado.
It would seem Tallon has two options, assuming there are no more injuries before then: send Cam Barker and what is now his $2.4 million cap hit back to Rockford, or move Brent Sopel off the roster. Sopel has a $2.5 million cap hit.