Hawks won't see Red Wings in first round
It's up to the Blackhawks now.
With San Jose beating Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout Saturday night, the Hawks now need a win over the Red Wings today at the United Center to capture the Western Conference and set up a date with Colorado in the first round of the playoffs.
A loss by the Hawks would give them the second seed and send them into the playoffs against either Los Angeles or Nashville.
No matter what happens today between the Hawks and Detroit, the two Central Division rivals cannot meet in the first round.
That's good news for the Hawks considering the Red Wings come to town 9-1-1 in their last 11 games.
After Detroit beat Columbus 1-0 in a shootout on Friday night to reach the 100-point plateau for the 10th straight season, Red Wings left wing Todd Bertuzzi couldn't resist jabbing those who were critical of the team when things weren't going so well.
"A lot of people wrote us off numerous times this year," Bertuzzi said.
Check that facts. The Hawks never did.
Even when the Hawks were posting back-to-back shutouts over Detroit around Christmas when the Red Wings were missing eight regulars, Joel Quenneville and a few of his players said they still considered the Wings as probably the team to beat in the Western Conference.
And they might be with the playoffs set to start later this week.
Since March 1, when the Red Wings returned to full health, they have gone 15-3-2.
"At one point we had eight very, very good hockey players out for a long period of time," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said during a conference call with reporters this week. "We just felt if we could buy time and get them back and not lose touch.
"You've got to give our guys on the farm a lot of credit. They kept us in touch with the other teams and gave us a chance to respond post-Olympics. The great thing about the playoffs is we all know everybody has a shot now. It's as tight as it's ever been from top to bottom."
The good thing about these playoffs for the Hawks is they won't be seeing Detroit in the first round.
Even Quenneville admitted a few weeks ago the Red Wings were a team nobody wanted to face right off the bat.
The Hawks will be heading into the playoffs on a high with Friday's 5-2 win at Colorado their sixth in a row.
Even the power play showed a big improvement against the Avs, scoring for the first time in eight games. The Hawks had been 8-for-67 on the power play since the Olympic break before Jonathan Toews scored in the first period.
"It was nice to see one go in," Toews said. "We can use that confidence to keep getting better on the power play. It's going to be a big part of our game going into the playoffs."
With the likelihood of a Hawks-Colorado meeting in the first round, the health status of Avs rookie Matt Duchene becomes a point of interest.
Duchene left Friday's game with the Hawks after aggravating a torso injury and spent the night in the hospital.
"He's got some time to rest up and get better," Avs coach Joe Sacco told the Denver Post on Saturday. "If we play Wednesday or Thursday hopefully he'll be ready to go."