There wasn’t any good news in Phoenix this afternoon. Jonathan Toews and Ben Eager will not play tonight against the Coyotes – both did skate at practice, however. It will be Toews’ fifth consecutive game missed, and Eager’s twelfth. Tomorrow we could be see one or both of them return to the lineup.

It is not the ideal way to head into back-to-back games against two teams that have seen early success due to their solid goaltending. Having to suit up a defenseman, Jordan Hendry, in place of Toews and/or Eager may have worked against weaker opponents, but a front end as thin as the Blackhawks currently are means that points will be hard to come by against two of the better teams in the West.

Anyway, I’ll be heading out of town this weekend, so this entry will constitute as preview for the next two games.

After five days off, some Blackhawks got much needed rest – Duncan Keith (a lot minutes lately), Dave Bolland (lower-back) and Patrick Kane (trying to do everything himself). Hopefully the time away from games won’t disrupt the momentum Cristobal Huet gained in his last four starts – he is down to an impressive 2.29 goals-against-average.

Coach Quenneville must have addressed the horrid power play during the layoff, but somehow the utterly useless Tomas Kopecky is seeing time during power play drills in practice. Can someone tell me why Kopecky is used in the role over Bolland? We’ll see if this means he is used on the unit during the game.

I might have been in the minority in this regard, but I thought that Phoenix was a better team last season then their record indicated. A new coach, the addition of some veterans and Ilya Bryzgalov’s return to form are all part of the Coyotes good start. They will need more offense if the team hopes to remain the playoff picture.

The Avalanche have placed a lot of faith in a young core of players anchored by Paul Stastny. Colorado also gave up on Peter Budaj and handed over the reins to ex-Blackhawk and journeyman, Craig Anderson. Third overall pick of the 2009 draft, Matt Duchene, is also part of the resurgence the team is experiencing.

Points will be tough to come by against these two teams in back-to-back games with Toews on the shelf. The Blackhawks will need to shake off the rust.