Sharks look to extend win streak vs. Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- The San Jose Sharks may be on a serious winning streak right now, but even after seven straight victories, they are not taking anything for granted.

The Sharks head into Monday's meeting with the Chicago Blackhawks on their longest win streak since 2013 after extending their string of success on Saturday against the Calgary Flames.

And yet for all of the winning the Sharks (43-23-9) have done lately, they find themselves still chasing a better playoff seeding while facing the Blackhawks, whose string of nine consecutive playoff appearances ended after Chicago was officially eliminated from postseason contention last week.

So with so much to play for as the regular season winds down, the Sharks remain hungry for more.

"We're a desperate team," San Jose's Evander Kane told reporters, including NHL.com, on Saturday after scoring two goals in the Sharks' 5-1 victory.

"We need all the points we can get. We haven't clinched a playoff spot yet. The teams that are behind us keep winning. We have to keep pushing forward and keep picking up points as we close out the season."

San Jose kept its winning ways going despite losing forward Logan Couture, who sat out the final 9:51 of Saturday's game with an undisclosed injury, NHL.com reported. Coach Peter DeBoer told reporters that Couture was dealing with "a little something" and would be re-evaluated before Monday's game.

Martin Jones remained a key reason behind San Jose's success, winning his sixth straight game on Saturday when he made 37 saves.

DeBoer likes the way his team has played but said that the Sharks can't afford to lose momentum.

"I think this is the time of the year when you want to be playing well, you want to get hot," DeBoer told reporters, according to NHL.com. "For me, it's all about our game. The results are nice, the wins are nice. Out of the seven (victories), (Saturday's game) was probably the sloppiest of the seven, but we found a way to win."

Chicago (31-36-9) snapped a five-game losing streak on Saturday with a 3-1 victory over the New York Islanders. Playing without captain Jonathan Toews, who remains out with an upper-body injury, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville shifted Patrick Kane to the center of his top line, which paid dividends to go along with 31 saves by Anton Forsberg.

While the victory ended Chicago's drought, it didn't do much for Chicago's chances of landing a high spot in this summer's NHL Draft.

The fact the Blackhawks won't be extending their season to the playoffs for the first time in a decade has perhaps changed the perspective of a team long accustomed to playing deep into the playoffs and winning three Stanley Cup titles since 2010.

But while Quenneville is well aware of the new spot the Blackhawks find themselves in, his focus on finishing the season strong remains intact.

"I think we're aware of what's going on," Quenneville told reporters Saturday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "But as a coach and as a team, I think our priority is to win hockey games."

Forsberg agreed.

"Obviously, (finishing strong is) really important," Forsberg said Saturday, according to the Sun-Times. "I think the whole team feels that way."