Blackhawks at Coyotes
While there is little doubt the Arizona Coyotes will miss the playoffs, the Chicago Blackhawks are in danger of not qualifying for the first time in 10 seasons. Chicago hopes to begin a mad charge on Monday as it seeks its first win of the month when it visits Arizona for the middle contest of its three-game road trip.
The Blackhawks, who haven't missed the postseason since a five-season stretch from 2003-08, almost certainly will not repeat as Central Division champions as they trail Nashville by 19 points and are 10 out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. They began their trek with a 3-0 loss at Minnesota on Saturday and are 0-4-1 in February after ending last month with back-to-back road victories. Arizona has earned a league-worst 36 points and fell to 1-4-1 in its last six contests after dropping a 4-3 home decision to Philadelphia in a shootout on Saturday. Defenseman Alex Goligoski tallied in the setback, giving him four points during his three-game streak, while Derek Stepan also extended his run (one goal, four assists) to three contests with an assist.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, NBCS Chicago, FS Arizona Plus
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (24-23-8): Patrick Kane, who has scored at least 21 goals in each of his 11 NHL seasons, tallied just once in his last nine games. The 29-year-old former Hart and Art Ross Trophy winner, whose next assist will be the 500th of his career, tops the club with 53 points but has been kept off the scoresheet in eight of his last 13 contests. Carl Dahlstrom, a 23-year-old Swedish defenseman, registered one shot over 16 minutes, 48 seconds of ice time in his NHL debut on Saturday.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (13-32-10): Rookie Clayton Keller leads the team with 38 points and has notched one in each of his last two contests after enduring a season-high five-game drought. The 19-year-old center also tops the club with 15 goals but has tallied just once in his last 14 games. Brendan Perlini is one goal behind Keller despite a five-game drought that has followed a string of four consecutive contests with a tally.
OVERTIME
1. Blackhawks RW Alex DeBrincat needs one goal to become the first American-born rookie to score 20 since Kane recorded 21 in 2007-08.
2. Coyotes C Brad Richardson is one point shy of 200 for his career.
3. Chicago is 22-3-5 all-time at Arizona and has won both of its meetings with the Coyotes - one at home - this season.