Blackhawks conclude Circus Trip vs. Kings

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The Blackhawks have an opportunity to match their best-ever performance on their annual Circus Trip with a victory over the Kings tonight at the Staples Center.

The Hawks won the first four games of the trip before falling to the Ducks 3-0 on Friday. A win over the Kings would run their record to 5-1, matching the effort during the 1990-91 season. That team exited the Circus Trip with a 17-7-2 record before going on to record a 49-23-8 mark on the season to finish on top of the Norris Division.

At 16-6-2 and with 34 points in their first 24 games, the Hawks have captured 70.8 percent of their possible points this season, which is best in the Western Conference and trails only New Jersey in the NHL.

"It's been a good road trip for us so far," center Colin Fraser said. "We know (Friday) wasn't our best game. Over 82 games you're not going to be at your top game every single game. We have to move forward and put it behind us and be at our best (against the Kings)."

This is the second of four meetings between the teams this season. The Hawks won the first, 4-1 on Nov. 9 at the United Center. They split the series during 2008-09 with each team holding serve at home. It's the Hawks' sixth second of back-to-back games this season, and they hold a 4-0-1 mark thus far.




The Hawks need to tighten up defensively and cut down on the Kings' shots. After holding the edge in shots on goal in all but one of their first 19 games, the Hawks have been out shot in three of their last five.

 

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Kings:

Alexander Frolov returns to the first line tonight, in place of Teddy Purcell. After Ryan Smyth suffered his upper-body injury, Frolov had one goal in two games on that line before he moved down to partner with rookies Andrei Loktionov and Brayden Schenn over the next two games. Purcell stepped up to the first line but did not generate a point and missed a golden scoring opportunity against Vancouver, when he essentially shot into Roberto Luongo?s glove with the net otherwise empty.

Here?s what Terry Murray said this morning about the Frolov-for-Purcell swap.

MURRAY: ?Well, I wanted to give Teddy the opportunity to play there, because I liked what I was seeing in the practices. He had good jump, and whenever I see that kind of energy, normally there is some offensive result. He had some opportunities, as we know, but statistically, at the end of the day there was nothing there to look at. That?s why I?m making the change.?

Murray was asked about Frolov?s previous two-game stint as the first-line winger, and what he might have seen in those games that lead him to believe Frolov is once again the answer?

MURRAY: ?I still come away, at the end of the day, saying that we put a pretty good hockey player (in Frolov) up there in the replacement of Ryan Smyth, but I feel I need more. The opportunities were there and the shots on net were there, as far as the line was concerned, but I need more, to where I can look up at the clock and actually see it up there as a statistic. We?ll keep pushing it.?

Murray was then asked if, even knowing how much Smyth brings to the line, he could have anticipated that Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams would fall into such a rut. (Kopitar and Williams each have one point in their last four games).

MURRAY: ?I didn?t anticipate that, quite honestly. I actually had a little chat with Kopi here this morning, here in the hallway, about getting back to those areas that he was in previously. I think Smytty brings his teammates to those areas. I watched his games in Colorado over the years, and that?s the style that everyone on that line played. I think that when you?re not forced into those areas, sometimes you have a tendency to drift away and play a little bit more on the outside. I tried to bring some attention to that this morning. We?ll keep talking about it and get Kopi, in particular, back driving to the net and in those hash-mark areas. It?s hard, but that?s where good things can happen for you.?

Finally, here?s what Kopitar said when asked what, in particular, the line needed to do in order to get going again?

KOPITAR: ?It?s hard to say. It?s definitely a mix of everything. ? It?s just a matter of working hard. We?re not getting great chances, but we?re getting some chances. It?s still frustrating, but at least we?re doing something. I have about four shots per game, but it?s just a matter of keeping it simple. Once we break through, it will just go up from there.?