Blackhawks try to stay focused on Avalanche
The Chicago Blackhawks can't afford to look past any game but it might be understandable if they are preoccupied when they play Colorado on Saturday night.
While Chicago is battling the Avalanche in Denver, the Winter Classic festivities will be in full swing at Millennium Park in South Bend, Ind. The Blackhawks are playing Boston in the Jan. 1 game.
But before Chicago (14-20-6) gets to the high-profile matchup of original six teams it will face a struggling Avalanche squad that has lost three in a row and has gone 3-7-1 since winning 9 of 11. The Blackhawks are trying to beat Colorado for the second time in eight days in Denver and gain some momentum under coach Jeremy Colliton.
Since he replaced Joel Quenneville on Nov. 6 Chicago is 8-14-3 and adjusting to the young coach's style.
"It's just because every group is different," Colliton told The Chicago Tribune for the slow adjustment. "Every player is different. And that's part of what my learning curve is: learning the group, learning of them individually.
"But the new guys, just getting to know each other in a short time, that's the adjustment."
The Blackhawks will have forward Marcus Kruger back. The center suffered a concussion on Dec. 18 and missed four games, including the 2-1 win over Colorado. Forward Jacob Nilsson, who played in two games in Kruger's absence, was sent back to Rockford of the AHL.
Defenseman Brent Seabrook missed practice on Friday with an illness but traveled to Denver.
The Avalanche (19-13-6) made some changes - not to the roster but to their lines. With the recent struggles coach Jared Bednar is moving left winger Gabe Landeskog off the top line to the second line, breaking up the highest-scoring line in the NHL.
Landeskog leads the team with 24 goals and has combined with center Nathan MacKinnon and forward Mikko Rantanen for 160 points. But the lack of secondary scoring has become an issue and Bednar wants to spread the talent.
"We're flipping them around a little bit to see if we can spark a few guys," Bednar told HockeyBuzz.com after Friday's practice. "We've done it a couple times in the middle of games and it's paid off in our favor.
"We've talked to our top guys about it; they're open to the change. We're going to see what we can do, see if we can find another combination that works for our whole team."
Matt Nieto will now play with MacKinnon and Rantanen. Landeskog, who has 19 assists, will skate with J.T. Compher and Alexander Kerfoot.
"We've lost three in a row, so we've got to change something up," he told HockeyBuzz.com. "Obviously, we had some chemistry with me, Mikko and Nate, but I'm excited to play with Comph and Kerf, and I think Nietsy's going to do great with Nate and Mikko.
"It's very rare that a line stays together for 82 games, but I kind of figured you (media) guys would come in and get excited over this, but for us it's just a part of the business. For me, it doesn't really matter who I'm playing with. I'm just excited to get back out and get back on the winning side."
