Stars at Blackhawks preview

STARS (31-19-4) at BLACKHAWKS (24-21-8)
8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, FS-SW+, NHL.TV

The Blackhawks, who have also lost five in a row at home (0-4-1), are last in the Central Division and seven points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Chicago has not missed the postseason since 2007-08 and won the Stanley Cup three times (2010, '13, '15) during that stretch.
The Stars are after their fourth consecutive victory. They are 4-0-1 in their past five road games after losing their previous three (0-2-1).

Players to watch

Stars forward Tyler Seguin has five points (three, two assists) in a three-game goal and point streak.
Blackhawks forward Nick Schmaltz has four points (two goals, two assists) in a three-game point streak and 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in his past 18 games.

They said it

"We've played them three times and they've played better and better every time. ... For us we know we have to play better than we played against them in our last game even though we won it. I anticipate this is going to be a playoff-style game and I hope our players are ready for it." -- Stars coach Ken Hitchcock
"They play a real structured team game, they play real hard and that's a great test. We're going to have to be good in how we compete and how we are in managing the puck, we've got to play with a purpose in all the zones. These guys keep the puck a lot and they play a hard, heavy game so that's going to be a good test in those areas." -- Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark -- Jason Spezza -- Devin Shore
Antoine Roussel -- Radek Faksa -- Tyler Pitlick
Remi Elie -- Martin Hanzal -- Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis -- Greg Pateryn
Stephen Johns -- Julius Honka
Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen
Scratched:Jason Dickinson, Dillon Heatherington, Gemel Smith
Injured:Marc Methot (knee)

Blackhawks projected lineup

Alex DeBrincat -- Jonathan Toews -- Anthony Duclair
Ryan Hartman -- Artem Anisimov -- Patrick Kane
Brandon Saad -- Nick Schmaltz -- Vinnie Hinostroza
Patrick Sharp -- David Kampf -- Tommy Wingels
Duncan Keith -- Connor Murphy
Erik Gustafsson -- Brent Seabrook
Michal Kempny -- Jordan Oesterle
Anton Forsberg
Jeff Glass
Scratched:Lance Bouma, Tomas Jurco
Injured: Corey Crawford (upper body), Michal Rozsival (upper body), Jan Rutta (undisclosed)

Status report

Rutta did not participate in morning skate. He's out and considered day to day ... The Stars held an optional skate.

Stat pack

Kane is one assist shy of 500 for his NHL career. ... The Blackhawks have scored two goals or fewer in eight of their past 12 games. The Stars have held their opponents to two goals or fewer in three straight games and eight of their past 10.