Defenseman Johnny Oduya and Niklas Hjalmarsson will return to the Chicago Blackhawks when the team goes for its eighth straight win when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday at United Center.

Hjalmarsson missed four games duet to an upper-body but was activated from injured reserve Wednesday. Meanwhile, Oduya is scheduled to play for the first time since Chicago reacquired him from Dallas on Feb. 28. The Swedish duo won Stanley Cups with Chicago in 2013 and 2015.

Nick Schmaltz returns to the lineup after missing two games with an illness. Schmaltz will be back on the top line alongside Jonathan Toews and Richard Panik.

Corey Crawford will start in net against the Ducks. Crawford is expected to play the grunt of the March schedule with backup Scott Darling out for three weeks with an upper-body injury. The 32-year-old is 26-13-3 with a .918 save percentage and 2.55 goals-against average.

While Chicago is streaking, Anaheim looked like an elevator — up and down. The Ducks bounced back between the win and loss column in its last 12 games. Anaheim is coming off a 4-3 shootout victory over Nashville on Tuesday. Right winger Patrick Eaves has two goals and two assists in four games since being acquired by Anaheim from Dallas before the trade deadline.

Anaheim has welcomed Eaves’ production with its top two scorers struggling to find the back of the net. Corey Perry is scoreless in his last 10 games while Ryan Kesler has scored only twice in his last 23 contests.

The Ducks will likely turn to Jonathan Bernier in net as John Gibson continues his recover from a lower-body injury. Bernier is 11-7-2 with a .904 save percentage and 2.85 GAA.

It’s the second game of three regular-season games between the two teams. Chicago won the opener 3-2 on Nov. 25 with goals by Artem Anisimov, Patrick Kane and rookie Ryan Hartman.

Kane has nine goals in his past five games, including two hat tricks. He is one goal shy of recording back-to-back 30-goal seasons for the first time in his career.

For more on the Ducks, visit Anaheim Calling.

Lineups

Blackhawks

Forwards

Schmaltz-Toews-Panik

Panarin-Anisimov-Kane

Jurco-Kero-Hossa

Hartman-Kruger-Tootoo

Defensemen

Keith-Seabrook

Oduya-Hjalmarsson

Campbell-van Riemsdyk

Goalies

Crawford

Glass

Ducks

Forwards

Cogliano-Kesler-Silfverberg

Eaves-Getzlaf-Kase

Ritchie-Rakell-Perry

Shaw-Thompson-Wagner

Defensemen

Fowler-Bieksa

Lindholm-Manson

Vatanen-Montour

Goalie

Bernier

*Lines will be updated if necessary

How to watch Ducks at Blackhawks

Time: 7:30 p.m. CST

Where: United Center, Chicago, IL.

TV: CSN