Chicago @ Arizona preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 12, 2019 ) Chicago 2, Arizona 5

With just over one-third of the regular season remaining, the Arizona Coyotes are trending in the wrong direction in the tightly bunched Western Conference playoff chase. Losers of seven of their last eight and mired in a season-worst four-game slide, the Coyotes aim to break out of their funk against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.

Arizona managed to earn only one point against the two worst teams in the Pacific coming out of the All-Star break and is hanging onto a wild-card slot. “I think you go through your ups and downs throughout the year, and obviously this isn’t the time we want to have one of those low points, but it’s going to happen,” forward Nick Schmaltz said after Thursday's 3-2 overtime loss to Los Angeles. “We’ve got to put together a good stretch here and really start to bank some points.” The Coyotes are only four points in front of the Blackhawks but have won five of the last six meetings, including a pair of victories in a five-day span in December. Coming off a 10-day layoff, Chicago had ripped off a season-high six consecutive victories, including three straight on the road, before losing to Florida in its final game before the All-Star break.

TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: NBCS Chicago, FS Arizona, FS Arizona-Plus

ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (24-21-6): Drake Caggiula and Brandon Saad returned prior to the All-Star break and Chicago is hoping Dylan Strome (ankle) will be back after he practiced fully for the past two days. The Blackhawks cannot afford a slow start with 11 of 14 games in February on the road. "Huge month for a lot of other teams, so the faster we can get into the playoff hockey mindset the better," captain Jonathan Toews said. "These are do-or-die games for us. We need points right now, so we can't wait any longer."

ABOUT THE COYOTES (26-20-6): Arizona could be without defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson after the captain was hurt and did not return to Thursday's game following a knee-on-knee collision with Los Angeles' Dustin Brown. “I don’t think it’s serious, but I don’t know. I’m not a doctor,” coach Rick Tocchet said Friday while indicating Ekman-Larsson was undergoing an MRI exam. “So we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.” Center Brad Richardson (lower body), sidelined the past four games, could return to the lineup on Saturday.

OVERTIME

1 Coyotes F Christian Dvorak has scored in three of the past four games and has seven points in 10 meetings versus Chicago.

2. Blackhawks leading scorer Patrick Kane has 16 points during an 11-game point streak and 47 in 40 games against the Coyotes.

3. Arizona has been limited to two goals of fewer five times during its 1-5-2 slide.

PREDICTION: Blackhawks 4, Coyotes 3