Blackhawks at Coyotes preview

BLACKHAWKS (33-32-10) at COYOTES (36-33-7)
10 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-A, WGN

Arizona, which has lost its past five games (0-4-1), is two points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. Chicago has gained at least one point in seven of its past nine games (6-2-1) and is three points behind Arizona.
Darcy Kuemper will make his 18th consecutive start for Arizona. His 2.45 goals-against average and .921 save percentage are second in the NHL among goalies who have played at least 50 games. Corey Crawford, 12-3-2 in 18 games against Arizona, will make his 10th consecutive start for Chicago.
The St. Louis Blues and the Vegas Golden Knights will clinch playoff berths if the Coyotes lose in any fashion.

Players to watch

Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews has 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists) in his past 26 games and three points (one goal, two assists) in two games against the Coyotes this season.
Coyotes forward Vinnie Hinostroza has four goals in his past seven games and two goals in two games against the Blackhawks, his former team.

They said it

"It's important to keep playing, keep playing at a high level. This (Chicago) is a team that can go on a run and win a bunch in a row." -- Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton
"Is (it) a must-win? I don't know. All I know is you want your guys to compete like it could be your last game. It should be that way." -- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet

Blackhawks projected lineup

Alex DeBrincat -- Jonathan Toews -- Patrick Kane
Brandon Saad -- Artem Anisimov -- Dylan Sikura
Brendan Perlini -- Dylan Strome -- Dominik Kahun
Chris Kunitz -- David Kampf -- Marcus Kruger
Duncan Keith -- Erik Gustafsson
Gustav Forsling -- Brent Seabrook
Slater Koekkoek -- Connor Murphy
Corey Crawford
Cam Ward
Injured: Drake Caggiula (concussion)
Scratched: John Hayden, Carl Dahlstrom

Coyotes projected lineup

Richard Panik -- Brad Richardson -- Vinnie Hinostroza
Lawson Crouse -- Derek Stepan -- Josh Archibald
Michael Grabner -- Christian Dvorak -- Clayton Keller
Alex Galchenyuk -- Mario Kempe -- Conor Garland
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Niklas Hjalmarsson
Alex Goligoski -- Jason Demers
Jakob Chychrun -- Jordan Oesterle
Darcy Kuemper
Calvin Pickard
Injured:Antti Raanta (lower body), Nick Schmaltz (lower body), Kyle Capobianco (lower body)
Scratched: Ilya Lyubushkin, Nick Cousins, Kevin Connauton, Christian Fischer

Status report

Caggiula took part in the morning skate but isn't ready to play. … Stepan will play in his first home game since Feb. 28. He missed 10 games with a lower-body injury before returning Saturday.

Stat pack

Perlini, traded by the Coyotes to the Blackhawks on Nov. 25, has eight goals in 11 games this month. … The Coyotes scored four goals during a four-game road trip (0-3-1) that ended with a 2-0 loss to the New York Islanders on Sunday.