Chicago @ Dallas preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 24, 2019 ) Dallas 4, Chicago 3

Five teams from the Central Division are holding down playoff spots in the Western Conference and the hottest among them are the Dallas Stars, who will attempt to match a season-high win streak when they host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night. The teams split two meetings this season, with Dallas winning at Chicago 4-3 on Feb. 24.

The Stars extended their winning streak to four games with a 4-0 victory over Colorado on Thursday for their second straight shutout. "This is crunch time and top guys have to be top guys. They're going to have their time to shine," forward Jason Dickinson said. "Hopefully, we can get every guy going at a different time, and keep this train rolling." The Blackhawks have little margin for error, trailing Dallas by 10 points after outlasting Buffalo 5-4 in a shootout Thursday to avert a third straight defeat. "A big two points for the team, keeps us in it," star forward Patrick Kane said. "We knew this was kind of a must-win."

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCS Chicago, FS Southwest (Dallas)

ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (28-30-9): Kane was held off the scoresheet in back-to-back games for only the second time this season, but scored in the shootout and notched two assists to move past Steve Larmer for fourth place on the franchise list with 924 points. Corey Crawford made 35 saves to earn his first home win since mid-December and could be in line for a heavy workload. "He's had a lot of time off and he hasn't played much in the last two years," coach Jeremy Colliton said. "But I think the best thing to do for him is keep playing."

ABOUT THE STARS (35-27-5): Although Ben Bishop has yielded one goal in winning his last three starts and posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time in his career, coach Jim Montgomery said he is leaning toward playing backup Anton Khudobin on Saturday. Alexander Radulov was scratched from Tuesday's game after missing the morning skate but he responded by registering his first career hat trick two nights later. "It's always nice to bounce back and have a game like that," Radulov said. "You just have to do the little things."

OVERTIME

1. Stars captain Jamie Benn has six goals in his last six games.

2. Blackhawks D Duncan Keith has recorded six points in his last six games.

3. Dallas F Radek Faksa (neck) practice Friday after sitting out Thursday but his status will be determined Saturday.

PREDICTION: Blackhawks 4, Stars 3