Sharp, 35, was a healthy scratch for a 4-0 loss Thursday at the Dallas Stars. He will play on the first line with Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad. Sharp had played in each of Chicago's first 33 games, but has struggled to produce offensively. He has nine points (three goals, six assists) but has not scored a goal since Nov. 27 and has three assists in his past 10 games New Jersey has its full complement of forwards for the first time this season. Jesper Bratt returns after missing a 4-3 shootout victory against the New York Rangers on Thursday with a foot injury. Marcus Johansson (bruised foot) returned against the Rangers, and Kyle Palmieri (broken right foot) played Monday after missing four weeks.
Players to watch
Chicago goalie Corey Crawford has allowed one or fewer goals in 11 starts this season; he's given up two goals or fewer in 16 of his 26 starts. Devils forward Miles Wood had his first NHL hat trick against Chicago in New Jersey's 7-5 victory at United Center on Nov. 12.
They said it
"I think it's more of the reality of the situation. There's a lot of good players here, competition at every position. If you are playing well, you are going to play; if you're not it's going to be tough to get ice time in games." -- Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp on returning to the lineup "Tonight is a mental toughness game. It's not about looking at a break. It's not about looking at what happened last game. We've got to have a strong focus tonight." -- Devils coach John Hynes, discussing the last game before the three-day Christmas break
Hinostroza had played in each of the six games since his call-up on Dec. 8. Rutta returns after being a healthy scratch for three games. Franson will miss his fourth straight game but is close to returning. … Stafford is the odd-man out with the return of Bratt after playing 29 of the previous 30 games.
Stat pack
Kane needs one goal for 300 in his NHL career, all with the Blackhawks. He would be the fifth player to score 300 goals with Chicago. … Since Dec. 1, Boyle is the top scorer for the Devils with 10 points (six goals, four assists) in 10 games.
