Blackhawks seek 11th straight win against Penguins

BLACKHAWKS (5-7-3) at PENGUINS (9-6-1)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN, ATTSN-PT, NBCSCH, NHL.TV

The Blackhawks have won 10 straight games against the Penguins since a 4-1 road loss on March 30, 2014. That is their longest active winning streak against any opponent.
Chicago, which outscored Pittsburgh 11-6 in two wins last season, is 2-1-1 in its past four games after losing four of its previous five (1-3-1). It won 5-2 against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
Pittsburgh is 3-1-1 in its past five games since a three-game losing streak. It trailed by three goals in the third period before winning 4-3 in overtime against the New York Islanders on Thursday.
The Penguins are 8-4-1 in their past 13 games.

Players to watch

Blackhawks defenseman Olli Maatta, who has four assists in 15 games, will face his former team for the first time since being traded from Pittsburgh to Chicago for forward Dominik Kahun on June 15. He won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017.
Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin has three points (one goal, two assists) in three games since missing 11 games with a lower-body injury.

They said it

"Even coming to the city, I don't know how to explain it. It's definitely a weird feeling." -- Blackhawks defenseman Olli Maatta
"It will be a little weird [to face Maatta]. I think when you play with a guy for that long, I think everyone knows each other's tendencies. So there shouldn't be any surprises there."-- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby

Blackhawks projected lineup

Alex Nylander -- Jonathan Toews -- Brandon Saad
Alex DeBrincat -- Dylan Strome -- Patrick Kane
Drake Caggiula -- David Kampf -- Dominik Kubalik
Zack Smith -- Ryan Carpenter -- Andrew Shaw
Slater Koekkoek -- Duncan Keith
Calvin de Haan -- Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta -- Erik Gustafsson
Corey Crawford
Robin Lehner
Scratched: Kirby Dach, Adam Boqvist
Injured: Connor Murphy (groin)

Penguins projected lineup

Alex Galchenyuk -- Sidney Crosby -- Jake Guentzel
Jared McCann -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust
Dominik Kahun -- Nick Bjugstad -- Dominik Simon
Zach Aston-Reese -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Tanev
Brian Dumoulin -- John Marino
Marcus Pettersson -- Justin Schultz
Jack Johnson -- John Marino
Matt Murray
Tristan Jarry
Scratched: Chad Ruhwedel, Sam Lafferty
Injured: Kris Letang (lower body), Patric Hornqvist (lower body)

Status report

Koekkoek and Kubalik will be in Chicago's lineup with Dach and Boqvist scratched. ... Letang is week to week, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Friday.

Stat pack

Kane has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a four-game point streak after having one assist in his previous five games. ... Galchenyuk needs one point to reach 300 in the NHL. He has three assists in seven games with the Penguins this season. ... Kahun has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past four games.