The Chicago Blackhawks host the San Jose Sharks on Monday night for their final home game before the Olympic break.

The Sharks are currently sitting just three points outside a playoff position with two games in hand, which on the surface, looks like a massive step forward from last season, when they finished dead last in the NHL. Dig a little deeper, though, and the underlying numbers suggest the progress isn’t quite as dramatic as the standings imply. San Jose still ranks last in the league in shot attempt share (44.67 percent) and expected goal share (44.23 percent), meaning they’re spending more time defending than dictating play on most nights. Much of what’s keeping them afloat has been their top players performing at or near their very best, highlighted by the Sharks owning the sixth-best shooting percentage in the league (12.14). It also helps that the Western Conference is pretty weak this year outside of a few teams at the top, leaving the playoff picture more open than usual. The Sharks results have been fairly steady of late, going 5-4-1 over their last 10 games, which is enough to keep them hanging around the playoff conversation but they may need to turn it up a notch if they actually want in the race.

Speaking of top performance, the Sharks’ offense has been primarily driven by Macklin Celebrini, who is in the midst of a genuinely Hart-worthy season. Celebrini is producing at a blistering 1.49 points per game pace (79 in 53) and has already piled up over 40 points more than any other San Jose skater. Part of that separation is due to Will Smith missing 13 games but, even so, Celebrini has been operating on a different tier. Smith has still been excellent, scoring at a 0.95 points-per-game clip and looking like a true long-term top-line center. William Eklund has provided steady secondary offense at 0.70 points per game while continuing to take on tougher matchups, and Alex Wennberg (0.68) has filled his usual role as a reliable, two-way play driver who helps stabilize the middle of the lineup. Tyler Toffoli (0.66) remains a consistent finishing presence and power-play option, while Collin Graf (0.58) has quietly rounded out the group with useful depth scoring.

On defense, the Sharks lean heavily on veteran experience, with John Klingberg (0.48) and Dmitry Orlov (0.43) anchoring the top pair and handling most of the puck-moving and transition work, even if Klingberg can still be hit-or-miss when it comes from a defensive standpoint. Mario Ferraro (0.23) and Shakir Mukhamadullin (0.25) are a more defense-first pairing, while 19-year-old Sam Dickinson (0.20) rotates on the bottom pair most nights.

The Sharks lines at Monday’s morning skate are below, with the main call-out being that Klingberg is out.

#SJSharks lines at morning skate v. #Blackhawks:
Smith-Celebrini-Toffoli
Eklund-Wennberg-Graf
Regenda-Misa-Kurashev
Goodrow-Gaudette-Reaves

Orlov-Liljegren
Ferraro-Mukhamadullin
Dickinson-Desharnais

— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) February 2, 2026

Yaroslav Askarov is likely the starter against the Blackhawks. The young netminder has a .890 save percentage in 33 games this season.

Yaroslav Askarov is the first Sharks goalie off the ice.

— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) February 2, 2026

Statistically, the Blackhawks are very similar to — and in some metrics even slightly ahead of — the Sharks, but the difference has been production from the top end. Key players like Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar have missed time due to injury, and the team’s other supposed top players haven’t produced at the same level as San Jose’s. As a result, the Blackhawks have been slipping down the standings while the Sharks have stayed in the playoff picture for most of the season.

The Blackhawks enter Monday’s matchup riding a five-game losing streak, having been outscored 21-9 over that stretch. Some nights in that span, the Blackhawks have shown they can compete and perform admirably — like the two shootout losses to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Minnesota Wild — but other games have been flat-out beatings — like the 6-2 rout by the Pittsburgh Penguins. With only two games left before the Olympic break, it sure would be nice for the Blackhawks to finish on a positive note.

As for lines, there were some updates fron the morning skate following the team’s last game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday. Nick Foligno was confirmed out with an undisclosed injury, so Landon Slaggert will return to the lineup on the fourth line. Oliver Moore has also dropped down to that line, replacing Ryan Donato, who moves up to the checking line alongside Jason Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev. Tyler Bertuzzi is once again on the top line with Bedard and Nazar, taking the place of Teuvo Teravainen, who shifts down to the second line with Ryan Greene and Andre Burakovsky.

#Blackhawks morning skate lineup:
Nazar-Bedard-Bertuzzi
Teravainen-Greene-Burakovsky
Donato-Dickinson-Mikheyev
Dach-Moore-Slaggert

Vlasic-Crevier
Kaiser-Rinzel
Grzelcyk-Murphy

Knight
Soderblom

Extras: Foligno (undisclosed injury), Lafferty, Levshunov

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 2, 2026

On defense, the pairings remained the same from the last game, including Artyom Levshunov not running with the normal pairs.

One final non-game note: the NHL trade freeze ahead of the Olympic break goes into effect this Wednesday.

Reminder: NHL trade freeze goes into effect Wednesday 3 pm ET through 11:59 pm ET on Feb. 22

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 2, 2026

Blackhawks — Statistic — Sharks
46.64% (28th) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 44.67% (32nd)
44.33% (31st) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 44.23% (32nd)
2.64 (27th) — Goals per game — 3.09 (17th)
3.15 (19th) — Goals against per game — 3.43 (28th)
47.1% (29th) — Faceoffs — 47.5% (26th)
19.4% (19th) — Power play — 20.8% (16th)
85.6% (1st) — Penalty kill — 78% (23rd)
(All stats from this season)

How to watch

When: 7:30 p.m. CT
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: CHSN
Webstream: ESPN+
Radio: WGN 720