The Arizona Coyotes look to make it two wins over the Chicago Blackhawks in a span of five days when the two teams meet Thursday night in Glendale, Ariz.The Coyotes (18-11-4) enter the matchup tied for first place with the Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific Division. But Arizona is 7-7-1 at home at Gila River Arena, a rink that figures to be at least half full of Blackhawks fans come Thursday.That's nothing new for the Coyotes in a market with a high number of transient fans, and Blackhawks fans have been outnumbering Arizona fans at Coyotes home games for years. But Arizona is looking to right itself after a 5-2 loss to surging Calgary on home ice on Tuesday night.The Flames scored twice on four shots in the first 4 minutes, 3 seconds of the game."We didn't give up. We still had a bunch of shots," coach Rick Tocchet said. "They scored on their chances -- that's what happens -- and they played a good road game."I didn't see the tenacity. But to me we have to figure out coming home the lack of preparation. Maybe it's on me to do some different things," Tocchet added. "There's four or five guys not ready to play, at home, again. So we've got to figure this out really quick." The Coyotes had a season-high 48 shots, surpassing their 47-shot total from last Sunday night. Jakob Chychrun scored his 23rd career goal, and his seven goals this season also tie his single season career-high that was set in 2016-2017.The Blackhawks (12-13-6) lost to the Coyotes 4-3 in the overtime shootout on Dec. 8, and limp into the Valley of the Sun having won just three of their last 11 games. They are coming off 5-1 loss at Vegas on Tuesday night.Chicago trailed 5-0 until the last 27 seconds of the game, when Dominik Kubalik scored on a power play.Defenseman Calvin de Haan went down with a shoulder injury during the game and is back in Chicago for further evaluation. The Blackhawks were already without defenseman Duncan Keith, who won't play Thursday against at Arizona due to a groin injury."Not happy with the performance, obviously," Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton said via the team website. "I thought the first period was not bad. We still gave up more than we should. But obviously, losing de Haan was a big blow and I thought we got worn down as the game went on back there for sure. It's asking a lot of guys, but whether it's managing the puck or just being sharp in transition, (the Golden Knights) were better than us." Chicago was also without defenseman Olli Maatta (illness) and forwards Andrew Shaw and Drake Caggiula, who are both dealing with concussion symptoms."All (teams) go through that and the ones that can have success, they have other guys step in, whether it is guys who are already on the roster or maybe someone who gets called up and gets the chance," Colliton said. "That's what we need." --Field Level Media
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