Blackhawks at Jets preview

BLACKHAWKS (15-11-5) at JETS (18-8-5)
8 p.m. ET; TSN3, NBCSCH, NHL.TV

Corey Crawford, who is 7-0-2 in his past nine games and has allowed three goals or fewer in eight of them, is expected to start. His last regulation loss was 7-5 to the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 12.
The Jets are 1-2-1 in their past four games overall but 10-0-1 in their last 11 home games.

Players to watch

Blackhawks forward Alex DeBrincat has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past nine games.
Jets forward Blake Wheeler has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in his past eight games. He entered Thursday tied for NHL lead in assists (30) with Philadelphia Flyers forward Jakub Voracek, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos and New York Islanders forward Josh Bailey.

They said it

"We're not in an ideal spot, but we're pretty confident that it's a long year. We know these division points are important, especially on the road. Overall, I think our game is trending where we want it to go." -- Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews on the team currently being outside of a playoff spot
"They've got a lot of guys with a lot of skill and a lot of experience. They're going to be a tough match. They've got a good team and we've got to be ready for that. It's a new year. We've had success against them in the past, but that has no effect on this season." -- Jets forward Mark Scheifele

Blackhawks projected lineup

Brandon Saad -- Jonathan Toews -- Alex DeBrincat
Nick Schmaltz -- Artem Anisimov -- Patrick Kane
Patrick Sharp -- Vinnie Hinostroza -- Ryan Hartman
Lance Bouma -- Tommy Wingels -- John Hayden
Duncan Keith -- Jordan Oesterle
Gustav Forsling -- Brent Seabrook
Michal Kempny -- Connor Murphy
Corey Crawford
Anton Forsberg
Scratched:Richard Panik, Ville Pokka
Injured:Cody Franson (lower body), Michal Rozsival (concussion), Jan Rutta (upper body)

Jets projected lineup

Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Nikolaj Ehlers -- Bryan Little -- Patrik Laine
Andrew Copp -- Adam Lowry -- Brandon Tanev
Mathieu Perreault -- Matt Hendricks -- Joel Armia
Josh Morrissey -- Jacob Trouba
Ben Chiarot -- Tucker Poolman
Dmitry Kulikov -- Tyler Myers
Connor Hellebuyck
Steve Mason
Scratched:Marko Dano, Shawn Matthias, Julian Melchiori
Injured:Toby Enstrom (lower body), Dustin Byfuglien (lower body)

Status report

Franson was placed on injured reserve Wednesday. Chicago recalled Pokka from Rockford of the American Hockey League to take his place on the roster. … Byfuglien was placed on injured reserve and Melchiori was recalled from Manitoba of the AHL on Thursday.

Stat pack

Kane has three points (one goal, two assists) in his past two games after having two points in his previous six games. Toews has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past six games, including points in five of six. … Ehlers has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his past 11 games. Laine has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past six games. Scheifele has one point in his past four games after scoring nine points (three goals, six assists) in his previous four games.