"For essentially three seasons, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook have been soldered together on the Blackhawks' blue line.

That they were pried apart Sunday night in a 4-2 loss to the Blue Jackets might be as indicative as anything of the currently precarious state of affairs. Seabrook skated with Niklas Hjalmarsson and Keith with Brent Sopel, the move partly about general shake-up and partly about spreading out the talent.

"We tried to get a little balance there," coach Joel Quenneville said. "When you're not winning, you mix up the lines, and you can always try mixing up the 'D' a little bit too."

There was a bit of a mixed message as to when the change went into effect — Keith said the news broke before the game; Seabrook said they knew at practice Saturday — but the timing was moot. The two Olympians had to move on, separately for at least a night."