Rangers at Blackhawks preview

RANGERS (30-24-4) at BLACKHAWKS (26-25-8)
8 p.m. ET; NBCSN

The goalie, who missed three games with a lower-body injury, is 4-0-0 with a 1.80 goals-against average and .950 save percentage in his past four games.
The Rangers are 4-1-0 in their past five games and trail the New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets by eight points for the first wild card in the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Chicago is 2-5-2 in its past nine games after a five-game winning streak but can climb within six points of the Arizona Coyotes for the second wild card from the West.

Players to watch

Rangers forward Artemi Panarin, who has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a six-game point streak, is two points from 400 in the NHL.
Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past two games.

They said it

"We're deep into the season and there's hope we can make the playoffs. I know people maybe think that's not possible. I think people think there's a chance but based on how young we are and things of that nature, then maybe it's insurmountable. There's nobody in this building that feels it's insurmountable, that's for sure."-- Rangers coach David Quinn
"The Rangers are a team that might be fighting for their last hopes of a playoff picture, so they're trying to play hard. They're beating some good teams. … If you look at their roster, they got a lot of skilled players, a lot of players that can change the game in an instant."-- Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Pavel Buchnevich
Artemi Panarin -- Ryan Strome -- Jesper Fast
Phillip Di Giuseppe -- Filip Chytil -- Kaapo Kakko
Brendan Lemieux -- Brett Howden -- Julien Gauthier
Brady Skjei -- Jacob Trouba
Tony DeAngelo -- Marc Staal
Ryan Lindgren -- Adam Fox
Igor Shesterkin
Alexandar Georgiev
Scratched: Henrik Lundqvist, Brendan Smith, Gregg McKegg
Injured: Micheal Haley (core muscle)

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 -- Adam Boqvist
Erik Gustafsson -- Connor Murphy
Olli Maatta -- Slater Koekkoek
Robin Lehner
Corey Crawford
Scratched:Nick Seeler
Injured:Calvin de Haan (right shoulder), Brent Seabrook (right shoulder/left and right hip), Andrew Shaw (concussion protocol), Zack Smith (left hand)

Status report

The Rangers held an optional morning skate. … Boqvist is in for Seeler after being a healthy scratch in Chicago's 3-2 loss at the Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 16.

Stat pack

The Rangers have not allowed a power play goal against in each of their past six games (13-for-13). … Zibanejad has five points (three goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak. … The Blackhawks are 0-for-14 on the power play in their past five. … Toews has four points (one goal, three assists) in his past two games.