Hawks open road trip with shootout loss

COYOTES 3, BLACKHAWKS 2

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- With six points in their last four games, the Blackhawks are playing better. They have plenty of room for improvement when it comes to dealing with shootouts, however.

The Hawks got in their second one Thursday and -- just like the first -- it was no contest. Curtis Joseph stopped Radim Vrbata and Mikael Holmqvist, allowed a score by Jeff Hamilton in between, and Brian Boucher couldn't stop Yanic Perreault or Ladislav Nagy, the Phoenix Coyotes' first two shooters. The result was a 3-2 loss in the opener of a five-game road trip.

''Curtis Joseph played well for them,'' Hawks coach Trent Yawney said. ''In the shootout, he made a couple good saves. What are you going to say?''

Despite the loss, which dropped his record to 1-7-2, Boucher played well. The first Coyotes goal, by Perreault, came on a two-man advantage. It was the first power-play goal the Hawks had allowed in 28 attempts.

''We're not happy about that, but our penalty kill has been so good lately it's kept us in games,'' Boucher said.

While Joseph was the Coyotes' main man, Perreault came up big, too. The Hawks went after him after the season started but lost out to the Coyotes. Both teams needed a veteran center, and Perreault was one of the few available on the free-agent market. Other clubs were reluctant to sign him because he underwent stomach surgery after finishing last season with the Nashville Predators.

''We talked seriously. He's a good player,'' Hawks general manager Dale Tallon said. ''But he has a home here [in Phoenix]. That was probably the deciding factor.''

The deciding factor Thursday might have been the Hawks' inability to cash in on a two-man advantage late in the third period. The Coyotes had to play two men down for two minutes after Fredrik Sjostrom was sent off for cross-checking and the team drew an additional bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct.

''The puck just didn't go in. We did all the right things,'' Yawney said.

Jeff Hamilton had a shot off the right post during the power play, which came five minutes after Mike Zigomanis tied the game with a backhander off a faceoff.

Karl Stewart and Martin Lapointe had the Hawks' goals, both coming in the first period after Perreault tallied. Stewart's was his first in the NHL. Lapointe's came on a power play. The Hawks have had power-play goals in only two of their last nine games. They had three against the St. Louis Blues last week. Otherwise, they've come up empty.

The Coyotes gave them plenty of opportunities, committing 11 penalties, the eighth time this season they had double-digit infractions. The Hawks were 1-for-8 on the power play.

NOTES: Coach Trent Yawney said it's ''more than likely'' that Nikolai Khabibulin will return in goal tonight when the Hawks visit the Anaheim Ducks.

•  •  Winger Tony Salmelainen returned to the Hawks' lineup after missing five games with a separated shoulder but played less than 10 minutes.