CHICAGO -- It's been almost a month since the Dallas Stars lived through a hockey nightmare against the Chicago Blackhawks at American Airlines Center.

Chicago came into "The Big D" on March 16 and put up a memorable 8-1 blowout victory on the board that included starting goalie Kari Lehtonen being chased and backup Richard Bachman also surrendering four goals -- including a Patrick Kane jaw-dropping spin-o-rama backhand number from the right circle.

Now the Stars will conclude their season series against the Blackhawks on Monday night at United Center, and things have changed considerably for Dallas. Since that Chicago rout, the Stars are 9-5-0 and currently riding a five-game win streak that's put them into contention for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a handful of other Western Conference teams.

CHICAGO -- The Detroit Red Wings are reeling coming down the stretch, attempting to secure the Western Conference's last spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After losing to the San Jose Sharks in a shootout Thursday night in Detroit, the assignment gets even more difficult Friday night at United Center, where the Red Wings will play the Central Division rival Chicago Blackhawks.

Chicago blasted Detroit 7-1 in the last meeting March 31 at Joe Louis Arena and aim to make it a four-game season-series sweep in the final meeting between the storied franchises as division rivals.

Chicago's Dave Bolland will sit out his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury believed to be his foot, which was struck by a hard slap shot from Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber on April 1 in a 3-2 Blackhawks shootout win.

Corey Crawford will get the start in goal for Chicago, and Jimmy Howard is expected to get the start for Detroit after taking the loss on Thursday night against San Jose.

Here is how the Red Wings and Blackhawks might line up on Friday night:

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks could become the first team in the NHL to clinch a Stanley Cup Playoff spot if they pick up at least a point against the Nashville Predators on Sunday night (7 p.m. ET) at United Center.

Meanwhile, it's getting close to do-or-die time for the Predators, who continue to lose forwards to injuries and close games down the stretch run of the season. Nashville dropped a 1-0 game to Chicago on Saturday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena -- continuing a vexing trend of not scoring enough goals -- and now the Predators face the Blackhawks again a little more than 24 hours later without Gabriel Bourque and veteran forwards Paul Gaustad and Mike Fisher.

All three will miss Sunday's game with undisclosed upper-body injuries, and Colin Wilson remains on the injured reserve list with an upper-body injury. Bourque and Gaustad didn't play in the game Saturday, but Fisher did. Now he's out, and forward Austin Watson was recalled Sunday morning from the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League to take his place.

CHICAGO -- They're still healing from upper-body injuries that have kept them out for extended time, but Chicago Blackhawks forwards Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa will remain out for Monday night's game against the Nashville Predators.

After going through an optional morning skate at United Center, Sharp and Hossa both need more time to fully heal from what is believed to be shoulder-related issues. Chicago doesn't play again until Thursday at home against the St. Louis Blues.

"They're real close and then the fact we've got a couple extra days here, so I think we [want to be] … more than ready when they're coming back," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "We'll get 'em on the ice on Wednesday and we'll know for sure whether they'll be playing Thursday or not. They could."

DETROIT – Jimmy Howard will become an unrestricted free agent this summer if the Detroit Red Wings don’t reach a contract extension with him, but he does know what he wants to happen.

“I want to play here a long time,” Howard said. “It’s been hard to think about anything [other than playing games] because we’ve been playing so much, but it’s something I’d like to get worked out.”

Red Wings general manager Ken Holland told NHL.com earlier this week that reaching a deal on a contract extension with Howard is his plan, so what’s left is actually negotiating the deal. Whether that happens during the season or afterward remains to be seen, but there might not be a lot of time for it to happen after the season ends if the Red Wings qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and go on any sort of extended run.

CHICAGO – The team that's occupying the visitors locker room at United Center on Friday just happens to be the only team in the Western Conference that hasn't lost to the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Anaheim Ducks have beaten the Blackhawks in each of the first two meetings and both have come right down to the end. Now they'll meet for a third and final time this regular season Friday night (8:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network).

Anaheim (22-7-4, 48 points), which trails West-leading Chicago (25-4-3, 53 points) by five points, prevailed 3-2 in a shootout at United Center on Feb. 12 then won 4-2 on March 20 at Honda Center. In that second victory, Anaheim scored twice in the third period to take the lead before adding an empty-net goal.

Neither loss sat very well with the Blackhawks, who ripped through the rest of the conference to start the season with an unprecedented 24-game points streak.

"People want to point out that we haven't won against this team yet, but I don't think that's a huge flaw or anything," Chicago captain Jonthan Toews said. "Obviously we want to prove ourselves. We've played two good games and it's come down to the wire against the Ducks, so if the same situation comes up [on Friday night] we obviously want to be on top. We'll work as hard as we [can] to get there and just make the smart plays and the right plays to stay there, I guess, and find a way to get the two points."

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks didn’t hold an official morning skate on Tuesday at United Center, but they did get some good news.

Injured star right wing Marian Hossa returned to the ice for conditioning work for the first time since leaving a game against the Colorado Avalanche on March 18 late in the first period after a hit from defenseman Ryan O’Byrne.

Hossa, who’s missed two games with the ailment, appeared to be holding his shoulder on the bench in that game, and the Blackhawks have called it an upper-body injury. Tuesday morning he joined teammates Patrick Sharp, Daniel Carcillo, Sheldon Brookbank and goalies Ray Emery and Corey Crawford on Tuesday for a series of drills.

“He skated today, so he’s progressing” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said of Hossa, prior to Chicago facing the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night (8:30 p.m. ET). “He’s kind of comparable with [Sharp], so we’ll see how they do. But he’s not playing [against Calgary].”

CHICAGO -- Jarome Iginla opted not to speak with reporters Tuesday morning at United Center after the Calgary Flames' optional morning skate.

Thus, any thoughts the Flames captain might have on trade speculation involving him will have to wait until after Tuesday's night's game against the Chicago Blackhawks (8:30 p.m. ET) -- one of the teams some think might make a play for him.

Iginla's teammates, however, were asked about the ongoing rumors with the April 3 trade deadline looming. The general consensus: remain narrowly focused and keep a sense of humor about it.

"Most of us can read, and so we're aware of it," forward Mike Cammalleri said. "I guess, amongst ourselves, you can make our own comedy of it and then just prepare to play the hockey game, and really quickly realize it's not something we can worry about."

CHICAGO -- When the Chicago Blackhawks host the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings on Monday night at United Center (8:30 p.m. ET), they will still be without star right winger Marian Hossa.

Hossa and star left winger Patrick Sharp are both out with upper-body injuries believed to be shoulder related, but the good news for Chicago is that center Andrew Shaw (flu) -- who didn't participate in the team's morning skate -- will play against the Kings.

DETROIT -- Considering the circumstances, Patrick Eaves is fortunate the aching jaw that will keep him out of Wednesday night's game against the Minnesota Wild (7:30 p.m., NBCSN) isn't a more serious injury.

Eaves was hit in the chin during a practice Tuesday by a puck that slid up his stick, and he left the ice after getting to his feet. Eaves went to see a doctor and had X-rays taken, which revealed no fractures. Further tests showed Eaves had instead sprained the Temporomandibular Joints located at both tips of his jaw.