Blackhawks at Lightning preview

BLACKHAWKS (27-28-8) at LIGHTNING (40-18-5)
7 p.m. ET; SUN, NBCSCH, NHL.TV

The center has a lower-body injury and Lightning coach Jon Cooper said he's game to game.
Tampa Bay forward Pat Maroon is also out with an undisclosed injury and Blake Coleman is with his wife to await the birth of their first child. He is a game-time decision.
The Lightning have lost three in a row for the first time this season while being outscored 16-9. They're five points behind the Boston Bruins for first in the Atlantic Division.
The Blackhawks have lost two straight and are 2-7-1 in their past 10 games. They're eight points behind the Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets and Arizona Coyotes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane has nine points (three goals, six assists) during a six-game point streak.
Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov has six points (three goals, three assists) during a five-game point streak.

They said it

"That's always how you have to look at it … just the game in front of you. To me it's a wasted energy to think about other things. We need to play our best game today. It's going to be a challenge. We want to get that winning feeling back." -- Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton on finishing the season strong
"Keep it simple. Get to the net. When you're struggling you just want to get back to what worked. Play simple hockey. Put the puck deep, go to work, get on the forecheck, get your legs under you and put pucks around the net." -- Lightning forward Yanni Gourde

Blackhawks projected lineup

Dominik Kubalik -- Jonathan Toews -- Drake Caggiula
Brandon Saad -- Ryan Carpenter -- Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat -- Kirby Dach -- Dylan Strome
Matthew Highmore -- David Kampf -- Alex Nylander
Duncan Keith -- Slater Koekkoek
Lucas Carlsson -- Connor Murphy
Olli Maatta -- Adam Boqvist
Corey Crawford
Malcolm Subban
Scratched:Nick Seeler
Injured:Calvin de Haan (shoulder), Brent Seabrook (shoulder/hip), Andrew Shaw (concussion protocol), Zack Smith (back)

Lightning projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Luke Schenn
Tyler Johnson -- Cedric Paquette -- Barclay Goodrow
Carter Verhaeghe --
Mitchell Stephens
-- Yanni Gourde
Victor Hedman -- Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Braydon Coburn -- Zach Bogosian
Curtis McElhinney
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Scratched:Blake Coleman
Injured:Steven Stamkos (lower body), Ryan McDonagh (lower body), Jan Rutta (lower body), Pat Maroon (undisclosed)

Status report

Colliton said that he is still planning on getting Subban into the goalie rotation. ... Schenn, a defenseman, will likely play forward if Coleman is not available. ... The Lightning recalled Stephens from Syracuse of the American Hockey League on Wednesday.

Stat pack

Toews has 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) in 19 games against the Lightning. ... Shattenkirk is one assist from 300 in the NHL.