Blackhawks at Sabres preview

BLACKHAWKS (30-33-8) at SABRES (22-36-12)
1 p.m. ET; NHLN, MSG-B, WGN, NHL.TV

Goaltender J-F Berube will start for Chicago, 3-6-0 in its past nine games and 6-14-1 in its past 21. The Blackhawks are 16 points behind the Dallas Stars for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in the past 11 games.
Sabres forward Sam Reinhart has six points (four goals, two assists) in the past six games, and 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in the past 18 games.

They said it

"We gave up a high number of chances after two periods (in a 6-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday). It was high both ways, but you add them all up, it's not the numbers that you're accustomed to thinking you can win hockey games when you're giving up that quality or quantity. We always had it at a manageable number in the past so let's tighten that up." -- Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville
"These are meaningful games for everybody in that locker room. We not only owe it to ourselves to keep pushing forward and getting better as a group, but we owe it to our fans. We've got to try to bring some production on our home ice." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley

Blackhawks projected lineup

Brandon Saad -- Jonathan Toews -- Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat -- Artem Anisimov -- Tomas Jurco
Patrick Sharp -- David Kampf -- John Hayden
Vinnie Hinostroza -- Nick Schmaltz -- Matthew Highmore
Duncan Keith -- Connor Murphy
Erik Gustafsson -- Brent Seabrook
Jordan Oesterle -- Jan Rutta
J-F Berube
Anton Forsberg
Scratched:None
Injured:Anthony Duclair (lower body), Corey Crawford (upper body)

Sabres projected lineup

Zemgus Girgensons -- Jack Eichel -- Jason Pominville
Scott Wilson -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Sam Reinhart
Benoit Pouliot -- Evan Rodrigues -- Nick Baptiste
Jordan Nolan -- Johan Larsson -- Justin Bailey
Marco Scandella -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Brendan Guhle -- Justin Falk
Victor Antipin -- Nathan Beaulieu
Chad Johnson
Linus Ullmark
Scratched:Josh Gorges, Robin Lehner
Injured:Kyle Okposo (concussion), Seth Griffith (upper body), Kyle Criscuolo (upper body), Jack Eichel (ankle), Jake McCabe (shoulder), Zach Bogosian (hip), Jacob Josefson (lower body), Casey Nelson (lower body)

Status report

Keith did not skate Friday but will play. … Josefson, Ristolainen, and Nelson had maintenance days Friday but are available to play.

Stat pack

Toews has nine points (three goals, six assists) in the past seven games. … Pominville has seven points (three goals, four assists) in the past eight games.