Blackhawks at Sharks preview

BLACKHAWKS (33-33-10) at SHARKS (43-24-9)
10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NBCSCA+, NBCSCH, NHL.TV

San Jose trails the first-place Calgary Flames by six points and leads the Vegas Golden Knights by five points in the division. The Sharks haven't lost seven straight games since Feb. 2-15, 2013. (0-4-3)
The Blackhawks have lost four of their past five games (1-3-1) after a five-game winning streak and trail the Colorado Avalanche by seven points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane has eight points (one goal, seven assists) in his past 12 games after having 44 points (18 goals, 26 assists) in his previous 22.
Sharks forward Joe Thornton is three assists from tying Steve Yzerman (1,063) for eighth on the NHL's all-time list. Thornton has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his past 12 games.

They said it

"You just got to get back to what worked before, the details of the game. A couple close games, if we make one less mistake, maybe we win those games. We have a ways to go. We haven't been putting out anywhere near what we can be, but we just got to go out there and do it." -- Sharks defenseman Justin Braun
"It's a must win. You got to make sure that you're ready to be at your absolute best and have that intensity every night because it's do-or-die and you'll be sitting at home for a long time this summer thinking about each game and what you could have done better." -- Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy

Blackhawks projected lineup

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

Sharks projected lineup

Timo Meier -- Logan Couture -- Gustav Nyquist
Evander Kane -- Tomas Hertl -- Lukas Radil
Marcus Sorensen -- Joe Thornton -- Kevin Labanc
Joonas Donskoi -- Barclay Goodrow -- Melker Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon -- Justin Braun
Joakim Ryan -- Tim Heed
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched:Micheal Haley
Injured: Erik Karlsson (groin), Radim Simek (right knee), Joe Pavelski (lower body)

Status report

Pavelski practiced but will miss his fifth straight game. … Crawford will make his 11th straight start.

Stat pack

Keith has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past seven games. ... The Blackhawks have lost four straight games in San Jose (0-4-0), last winning here Nov. 25, 2015. … Thornton is four games from tying Nicklas Lidstrom for 12th place on the NHL's all-time list. … Hertl will play his 400th NHL game.