Blackhawks notes

The Blackhawks’ first fathers trip has been fun, according to all reports halfway through the event. The Hawks contingent arrived in Phoenix on Tuesday with 18 of the players’ fathers and one grandfather (Duncan Keith’s) in the group. They enjoyed a golf outing, then a group dinner and some pool time before the game in Phoenix. ‘‘It’s exciting having them part of the trip and experiencing our everyday lifestyle,’’ coach Joel Quenneville said. ‘‘It’s been fun meeting new people and getting to know everybody better. And everybody should be proud to play in front of their dads.’’ The dads also will take in the game tonight in Denver.

With Jonathan Toews and Ben Eager still not ready for game action, defenseman Jordan Hendry spent another game as a part-time left wing. General manager Stan Bowman called up Bryan Bickell, Jack Skille and Jake Dowell from Rockford earlier in the season to fill the void but denied the use of Hendry was related to salary-cap considerations. ‘‘It’s not a money thing,’’ Bowman said. ‘‘It’s hard when guys don’t play. We wanted to get [Hendry] into the lineup, and this was an opportunity to do that.’’

Despite two shaky back-to-back showings two weeks ago, Cristobal Huet entered Thursday’s game with the seventh-best goals-against average (2.29) in the NHL, and the Hawks led the Western Conference in goals against (31).

The Hawks hoped getting back on the road would improve their power play. At 9-for-52, the Hawks had dropped to 19th in the NHL’s power-play rankings, but they were 5-for-17 in their previous road games.

No longer are the Hawks the least-penalized team. After being assessed just 90 penalty minutes in their first 10 games, the Hawks took 66 PIMs in the three games leading into the trip to Phoenix. That knocked them down to 11th in penalty minutes per game.

The Coyotes roster included four former Hawks — Adrian Aucoin, Jim Vandermeer, Radim Vrbata and Robert Lang.