Blackhawks at Coyotes
The Chicago Blackhawks hope to exact a little revenge as they complete a season-opening set of back-to-back road games Sunday against the Phoenix Coyotes. After dropping three of the four regular-season meetings between the teams, Chicago lost its Western Conference first-round series in six games. The Blackhawks started the abbreviated 2012-13 campaign on a good note Saturday as Marian Hossa scored two goals and set up another in a 5-2 triumph over the reigning Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings.
Phoenix began its campaign Saturday with a 4-3 loss to the Stars in Dallas. The 2011-12 Pacific Division champion squandered a one-goal lead before Radim Vrbata scored his second of the game 3 1/2 minutes into the third period to forge a 3-3 tie. But Dallas' Loui Eriksson snapped the deadlock with 6:55 remaining and the Stars held on to edge the Coyotes, who had a 40-26 advantage in shots.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN, CSN (Chicago)
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (1-0-0): Hossa showed no ill effects from the concussion he suffered against Phoenix in the playoffs. The veteran was leveled by Phoenix's Raffi Torres in Game 3 of the series and left the ice on a stretcher. "I tried to keep it simple, especially at the beginning," Hossa said of his season debut. "Nothing too fancy. They gave me short shifts and I tried to get into it." Captain Jonathan Toews did not appear to be a player suffering from the flu as he recorded a goal and an assist against the Kings.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (0-1-0): Torres received a 25-game suspension for his hit on Hossa but had it reduced to 21 following an appeal. He has seven games remaining on the ban after sitting out Phoenix's final 13 playoff games and the season opener on Saturday. Vrbata, who finished second on the team in scoring last season with 62 points, began this campaign with a three-point performance. Goaltender Mike Smith was a thorn in Chicago's side last campaign, posting a 1.30 goals-against average in three regular-season meetings and a 1.81 GAA during the playoff series.
OVERTIME
1. Last year's first-round matchup was just the second playoff series in NHL history in which the first five games went to overtime.
2. Chicago LW Dan Carcillo left Saturday's victory with a lower-body injury and is not expected to face the Coyotes.
3. Phoenix has not lost its first two games of the season in regulation since 2005-06, while Chicago hasn't won its initial two contests since the 1996-97 campaign.
PREDICTION: Coyotes 3, Blackhawks 2.