Lightning at Blackhawks preview

LIGHTNING (9-7-2) at BLACKHAWKS (9-8-4)
8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, SUN, NHL.TV

The forward took a hard check from St. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn during the second period of a 3-1 loss on Tuesday and left the ice immediately. Kucherov's injury is not concussion-related, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.
Tampa Bay has lost two straight following a three-game winning streak.
The Blackhawks look for their sixth victory in eight games (5-1-1) after going 2-5-2 in their previous nine games.
Forward Patrick Kane has 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in a 10-game point streak.

Players to watch

Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman has eight points (two goals, six assists) in a five-game point streak.
Blackhawks rookie center Kirby Dach has seven points (four goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak.

They said it

"We're giving up way too many goals and for us it's a mentality. It's not systems, it's not that, it's just a mentality on our team. We've addressed that and I think everyone's aware of what we have to do to eliminate scoring chances." -- Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman
"I think [the Lightning] played well against St. Louis, especially in the beginning of the game and St. Louis is a really good team. That's probably the type of style they are looking to get to. We're ready for them. They are going to be hard on us and obviously they've got some skill we've got to be aware of. It's going to be a good test." -- Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton

Lightning projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Steven Stamkos
Alex Killorn -- Tyler Johnson -- Cory Conacher
Yanni Gourde -- Anthony Cirelli -- Mathieu Joseph
Pat Maroon -- Cedric Paquette
Victor Hedman -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev -- Jan Rutta
Luke Schenn
Curtis McElhinney
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Scratched: Braydon Coburn, Carter Verhaeghe
Injured: Nikita Kucherov (upper body)

Blackhawks projected lineup

Brandon Saad -- Jonathan Toews -- Alex Nylander
Alex DeBrincat -- Dylan Strome -- Patrick Kane
Andrew Shaw -- David Kampf -- Dominik Kubalik
Ryan Carpenter -- Kirby Dach -- Zack Smith
Duncan Keith -- Erik Gustafsson
Calvin de Haan -- Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta -- Connor Murphy
Corey Crawford
Robin Lehner
Scratched: Slater Koekkoek
Injured: Drake Caggiula (concussion)

Status report

The Blackhawks held an optional skate; Colliton said he wouldn't finalize a lineup until close to game time. … Shaw was on the ice Thursday after missing practice Wednesday with a sore right hip. … The Lightning are expected to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

Stat pack

Stamkos has 18 points (11 goals, seven assists) in 15 games against Chicago. … Killorn has seven points (three goals, four assists) in a five-game point streak. … Crawford is 3-0-2 with a 2.38 goals-against average and .937 save percentage in his past five starts. … Kane, who has 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in 17 games against Tampa Bay, needs one assist for 600 in the NHL.