Blackhawks at Kings preview

BLACKHAWKS (34-33-10) at KINGS (28-40-9)
10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, NBCSCH, NHL.TV

The Blackhawks are seven points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the West with five regular-season games remaining and a game in hand.
Chicago is 2-3-1 in its past six games following a five-game winning streak.
The Kings, who have lost two straight (0-1-1) after winning three in a row, have been eliminated from playoff contention.

Players to watch

Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews, with 76 points (33 goals, 43 assists), is one shy of setting an NHL career high. He also had 76 points (32 goals, 44 assists) in 2010-11.
Kings forward Dustin Brown has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past seven games.

They said it

"We want to drag this out as long as we can and be alive, play important games as long as we can. More so, it's the mentality that we're not going to quit. When things are dark, when things are going against you, it tells you a lot about the character you have." -- Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton
"He's got a good stick. I'd like to always try to get him around 10 minutes a night. I think there's room that he can get better over the summer, but I think he's played pretty well." -- Kings coach Willie Desjardins on center Michael Amadio, who has two assists in two games since he was recalled from Ontario of the American Hockey League on March 24

Blackhawks projected lineup

Alex DeBrincat -- Jonathan Toews -- Patrick Kane
Drake Caggiula -- David Kampf -- Dylan Strome
Brandon Saad -- Artem Anisimov -- Dylan Sikura
Chris Kunitz -- Marcus Kruger -- Dominik Kahun
Duncan Keith -- Erik Gustafsson
Gustav Forsling -- Brent Seabrook
Carl Dahlstrom -- Connor Murphy
Corey Crawford
Cam Ward
Scratched: Brendan Perlini, John Hayden, Slater Koekkoek
Injured: None

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Carl Grundstrom -- Adrian Kempe -- Tyler Toffoli
Kyle Clifford -- Jeff Carter -- Trevor Lewis
Austin Wagner -- Michael Amadio -- Jonny Brodzinski
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Alec Martinez -- Matt Roy
Kurtis MacDermid -- Paul LaDue
Jack Campbell
Jonathan Quick
Scratched:Dion Phaneuf, Ilya Kovalchuk, Sean Walker
Injured:Brendan Leipsic (lower body)

Status report

Caggiula will return after missing 13 games because of a concussion. … Kovalchuk will be scratched for the sixth straight game. Desjardins said he expect to play Kovalchuk during the final four games of the season.

Stat pack

Kane has 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in his past 13 games after having 44 points (18 goals, 26 assists) in his previous 22 games. … Chicago is 6-13-4 against the Pacific Division. … Kopitar has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past seven games.