Preview: Sharks at Blackhawks

SHARKS (19-11-1) at BLACKHAWKS (21-8-4)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN, WGN, CSN-CA, NHL.TV

Sharks team scope

The San Jose Sharks are looking for their fifth straight win and a sweep of their four-game road trip. Forward Joel Ward was a healthy scratch in a 4-2 win at the Montreal Canadiens on Friday and it's unknown whether he'll get back in the lineup. Forwards Kevin Labanc, Michael Haley and Timo Meier have been rewarded for their play, with Meier entering the lineup for Ward. Meier scored his first NHL goal on his first shot in his NHL debut against the Canadiens. "We've got a lot of depth here and we have a lot of young guys knocking on the door," coach Pete DeBoer told the San Jose Mercury-News on Saturday. "We've got young guys that have come in and basically knocked down the door. Guys lose their positions when young guys come in and do that, and it puts everybody on notice." Goalie Martin Jones will start.

Blackhawks team scope

The Chicago Blackhawks will be without center Artem Anisimov when they seek their fifth straight win. Anisimov left a 6-4 win at the St. Louis Blues on Saturday with an upper-body injury in the first period and is day to day. Scott Darling will make his eighth straight start in place of injured goalie Corey Crawford. Darling, who is 4-2-1 in the past seven games, has allowed four goals in each of the past two, but coach Joel Quenneville will stick with him instead of starting rookie Lars Johansson. "We talked about it," Quenneville said. "It was a good discussion and at the end of it, he'd come back with another win. So, we didn't want to change the pattern. Our thought process originally was [that] he had the net here. But we certainly talked about it."

Sharks projected lineup

Patrick Marleau -- Joe Thornton -- Joe Pavelski
Kevin Labanc -- Logan Couture -- Mikkel Boedker
Timo Meier -- Chris Tierney -- Joonas Donskoi
Melker Karlsson -- Tommy Wingels -- Joel Ward
Paul Martin -- Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon -- David Schlemko
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched:Micheal Haley, Dylan Demelo, Matt Nieto
Injured:Tomas Hertl (knee)

Blackhawks projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Jonathan Toews -- Patrick Kane
Ryan Hartman -- Vinnie Hinostroza -- Marian Hossa
Dennis Rasmussen -- Marcus Kruger -- Richard Panik
Tyler Motte -- Andrew Desjardins -- Jordin Tootoo
Duncan Keith -- Niklas Hjalmarsson
Brian Campbell -- Brent Seabrook
Gustav Forsling -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Scott Darling
Lars Johansson
Scratched:Michal Kempny, Michal Rozsival
Injured:Artem Anisimov (upper body), Corey Crawford (appendectomy)

Status report

Darling's seven straight starts is the longest starting stretch of his NHL career. … Forsling and van Riemsdyk each played well against the Blues, meaning Kempny likely will be scratched again. … Crawford is recovering from an appendectomy on Dec. 3. He resumed on-ice activities last week, but hasn't practiced with the team. ... Hertl is considered week to week.

Who's hot

Panarin has four goals and five assists during a four-game point streak, including multiple points in the past three games. … Burns has four goals and four assists during a seven-game point streak.