Chicago @ Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 21, 2020 ) Florida 4, Chicago 3

The Florida Panthers went into the All-Star break riding a six-game winning streak that culminated with a victory in Chicago and appeared on track to reach the playoffs for only the third time in 19 seasons. However, Florida has struggled badly in February and needs a strong push as it resumes a five-game homestand against the visiting Blackhawks on Saturday night.

The Panthers squandered a chance to pull into a third-place tie in the Atlantic Division, dropping a 5-3 decision to Toronto to fall four points behind the Maple Leafs. "We're still in it and we're still in a really good spot but we need wins," captain Aleksander Barkov said after Florida blew a two-goal lead to fall to 5-9-1 this month. "We're going to do everything we can next game." Chicago also has had a rocky February and is sitting eight points behind the second wild card in the Western Conference entering the final stop of a four-game road trip. However, the Blackhawks are coming off a 5-2 win at Tampa Bay that has the players "feeling good about ourselves," forward Brandon Saad said. "The energy is high and we have to keep this rolling."

TIME: 6 p.m. ET. TV: NBCS Chicago-Plus, FS Florida

ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (28-28-8): Dominik Kubalik registered his first career hat trick, with each of the scores coming during a five-goal third period. Kubalik has scored seven times in seven games to take over the team lead with 29 goals. "Confidence is a big part of his game and he's a guy who can be a little up and down depending on how he feels about his own game," coach Jeremy Colliton said. "But recently he's been able to smooth that out and find an extra level of consistency and that's great. It's great for us, great for him."

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (33-25-6): Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Evgenii Dadonov were no-shows against Toronto, combining for only four shots on goal and registering a minus-6 rating. However, Noel Acciari ended a seven-game goal drought with by scoring his 20th of the season after notching only 18 in the first 180 games of his career. "I don't know if he's our repairman, but it seems like whatever line he gets to, that line seems to have some success," coach Joel Quenneville said. "The production is a bonus for us, but he's had a special year."

OVERTIME

1. Blackhawks F Patrick Kane scored against Florida last month and has 10 goals and 23 points in 20 meetings.

2. Panthers F Mike Hoffman has scored in four straight and has five goals during a six-game point streak.

3. Saad has scored in back-to-back games to reach 20 goals for the fifth time in six seasons.

PREDICTION: Blackhawks 4, Panthers 3