Keith, Seabrook split up vs. Columbus
It was a move made more out of necessity than desperation with Brian Campbell and Kim Johnsson out of the lineup with injuries.
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville split up longtime defense partners Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook Sunday night against Columbus.
Keith was paired with Brent Sopel, and Seabrook skated with Niklas Hjalmarsson. The third pair was Dustin Byfuglien and Jordan Hendry.
Quenneville said he liked the results, even though Sopel and Keith were minus-2 in the Hawks' 4-2 loss. Sopel was in front of the net for the first 2 Columbus goals and wound up playing almost 19 minutes. Keith played more than 29 minutes.
"We tried to get a little balance there," Quenneville said. "When you're not winning we mixed up the lines and we felt let's try mixing up the defense a little bit, too.
"I didn't mind the switching. I thought Hammer was fine with Seabrook. I think as a group there we were just looking for a little more, I don't want to say predictability, but more balance in the group."
Seabrook played a solid 22 minutes and had 4 hits.
No spark: The power play was 0-for-4 in Sunday's loss and a nonfactor again.
The Hawks are 4-for-38 on the power play in the last 10 games, seven of them losses.
Joel Quenneville admitted the power play has been inconsistent most of the season.
"Our power play all year hasn't really ignited our offense the way it should have," Quenneville said. "We tried different things over the last couple weeks and we'll continue to try to get it right.
"Right now it's been dry and that's why we haven't got the production we're looking for and in a game like tonight that could have been a differential."
The Hawks aren't getting their noses dirty on the power play or 5-on-5, making the fact that they generally outshoot teams meaningless.
"We need to get our noses a little more dirty around the net," John Madden said. "Not every goal's going to be a tic-tac-toe play, so we have to figure a way to score some dirty ones."
Division watch: The Hawks' magic number to clinch the Central Division is 7 points.
The Hawks have 99 points, but second-place Nashville has only six games remaining, which means the most points the Predators can finish with is 104.
The Red Wings have seven games to play and can finish with a maximum of 105 points.
The Hawks last won a division title in 1992-93.
Sound off: The Hawks on Sunday officially launched "The Fan's Voice," a program designed to help improve the experience of a game at the United Center.
"The Fan's Voice" promotes active feedback from fans on any topic associated with the game-night experience. Fans wishing to participate can do so at sections 114 and 333.