Sharks at Blackhawks preview

SHARKS (29-35-5) at BLACKHAWKS (31-30-8)
8 p.m. ET; NBCSN

The Blackhawks, who have lost two in a row after a four-game winning streak, trail the Nashville Predators, Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets by eight points for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the West.
The Sharks have lost three in a row (0-2-1), 3-7-1 in their past 11 games and 15 points out of a playoff position.

Players to watch

Sharks forward Timo Meier has four assists in a three-game point streak.
Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane has four points (three goals, one assist) in his past four games.

They said it

"We have a little over a dozen games left and we're going to fight to the end. Regardless of where we are in the standings and who we're playing or what the score is, we're really just concentrating on and trying to be in every game and competing hard." -- Sharks coach Bob Boughner
"Our thought process is to kind of have a good weekend. These next three games, we'll see what we can do. Maybe we'll go on a little three-game winning streak and all of a sudden, the outlook looks a little bit different for the rest of the season. We know we need to have a good record the rest of the way. We're going to need everyone to be helping out in the lineup, whether you're a young guy and part of the future or you're a guy that's been here a while." -- Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane

Sharks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Noah Gregor -- Kevin Labanc
Marcus Sorensen -- Joe Thornton -- Timo Meier
Melker Karlsson -- Joel Kellman -- Stefan Noesen
Lean Bergmann -- Antti Suomela -- Dylan Gambrell
Radim Simek -- Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Brandon Davidson
Nikolai Knyzhov -- Tim Heed
Aaron Dell
Martin Jones
Scratched:Nick DeSimone, Alexander True
Injured:Logan Couture (concussion protocol), Mario Ferraro (lower body), Tomas Hertl (left ACL/MCL), Erik Karlsson (left thumb), Jake Middleton (ankle), Dalton Prout (upper body)

Blackhawks projected lineup

Alex DeBrincat -- Jonathan Toews -- Brandon Saad
Alex Nylander -- Dylan Strome -- Patrick Kane
Dominik Kubalik -- Kirby Dach -- Brandon Hagel
Matthew Highmore -- David Kampf -- Ryan Carpenter
Duncan Keith -- Nicolas Beaudin
Olli Maatta -- Slater Koekkoek
Lucas Carlsson -- Connor Murphy
Corey Crawford
Malcolm Subban
Scratched:Nick Seeler
Injured:Adam Boqvist (concussion protocol), Drake Caggiula (right hand), Calvin de Haan (right shoulder), Brent Seabrook (right shoulder/left and right hip), Andrew Shaw (concussion protocol), Zack Smith (back)

Status report

Both teams held an optional morning skate. … Couture, a forward, did not travel but could join the Sharks during their four-game road trip. … Beaudin and Hagel will make their NHL debuts. … Carlsson is in for Seeler after missing two games with a concussion. … Crawford will make his 10th straight start.

Stat pack

Thornton will play in his 1,636th game to pass Scott Stevens for sole possession of ninth place in NHL history. … The Blackhawks are 0-for-14 on the power play in their past five games.