Sharks at Blackhawks preview

SHARKS (33-20-8) at BLACKHAWKS (26-27-8)
8:30 p.m. ET; WGN, NBCSCA, NHL.TV

They had a three-game winning streak ended with a 7-1 loss against the Nashville Predators on Thursday. They are second in the Pacific Division, 10 points behind the first-place Vegas Golden Knights but one point ahead of the third-place Anaheim Ducks.
The Blackhawks will look to win for the third time in four games after losing eight in a row (0-7-1). They're 12 points behind the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Sharks forward Logan Couture has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past eight games.
Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past three games after going without a point in his previous five.

They said it

"We've got to match that intensity. They're a good team over there, and we do need to pick up our game a little bit when we head to barns like this and not have blow-ups like that. But at the same time, we've got to kind of throw that one away and be ready to go [Friday]." -- Sharks defenseman Justin Braun, after a 7-1 loss against the Nashville Predators on Thursday
"We just have to expect a desperate team, especially after what happened to them last night in Nashville. They'll probably be ready to go and trying to regroup after a game like that. Dangerous team. I still think we can play better here at home and try to play better in front of our fans." -- Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane

Sharks projected lineup

Timo Meier -- Joe Pavelski -- Joonas Donskoi
Tomas Hertl -- Logan Couture -- Kevin Labanc
Mikkel Boedker -- Chris Tierney -- Jannik Hansen
Barclay Goodrow --
Eric Fehr
-- Melker Karlsson
Joakim Ryan -- Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon -- Dylan DeMelo
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched:Marcus Sorensen, Tim Heed, Paul Martin
Injured:Joe Thornton (knee), Joel Ward (shoulder)

Blackhawks projected lineup

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

Status report

The Sharks did not hold a morning skate. … Rutta will be activated from injured reserve and return to the lineup after missing eight games. He skated on the third pair with Gustafsson at the morning skate.

Stat pack

The Sharks are 0-for-18 on the power play in their past seven games. Jones is 4-1-0 with a 1.79 goals-against average and .943 save percentage in his past five starts. ... Schmaltz has one point in his past eight games after he had six points (three goals, three assists) in his previous six.