Blackhawks at Sabres preview

BLACKHAWKS (18-24-9) at SABRES (25-19-6)
7 p.m. ET; SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, MSG-B, NBCSCH, NHL.TV

The 30-year-old forward, who has 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in a nine-game point streak, can join Denis Savard (11 times) and Bobby Hull (five times) in achieving the feat. Kane's next point will also be the 900th of his NHL career.
The Blackhawks, playing their first game following their mandatory five-day break after the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend, seek their third consecutive win following a five-game losing streak (0-3-2).
The Sabres are playing the first of seven straight at home, tying a stretch from Jan. 20 to Feb. 2, 1997 as the longest homestand in Buffalo history. Buffalo is 4-8-1 in its past 13 games and have allowed at least four goals in five of its past seven games.

Players to watch

Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews has 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in his past 13 games.
Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues has five points (four goals, one assist) in his past five games.

They said it

"We're not forcing it; we're being patient. But at the same time, there's a lot of movement and we're forcing the opposition to sort and re-sort, and we're capitalizing." -- Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton on Chicago's power play, which has scored at least one goal in nine straight games
"I know there's a lot of talk that we have a lot of games at home, but they're not going to mean anything if we don't focus on what's right in front of us, and that's the Chicago Blackhawks." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley on Buffalo beginning a seven-game homestand

Blackhawks projected lineup

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

Sabres projected lineup

Jeff Skinner -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Conor Sheary -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Evan Rodrigues
Tage Thompson -- Vladimir Sobotka -- Jason Pominville
Zemgus Girgensons -- Johan Larsson -- Kyle Okposo
Jake McCabe -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Rasmus Dahlin -- Zach Bogosian
Marco Scandella -- Lawrence Pilut
Carter Hutton
Linus Ullmark
Scratched: Nathan Beaulieu, Matt Hunwick, Remi Elie
Injured:Casey Nelson (upper body)

Status report

Pilut will be back in the lineup after being scratched the past two games. … Forsling returns after missing eight games with an upper-torso injury.

Stat pack

DeBrincat has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in his past eight games. … Saad will play in his 500th NHL game. … Dahlin has eight points (one goal, seven assists) in his past eight games. … Reinhart will play in his 300th NHL game.