Big test tonight not just for Hawks, but for Canucks, too

In a week full of crucial, playoff-type games, just how tough was Friday's overtime victory over New Jersey?

"The last four games have been playoff atmosphere games, but that was probably the best test for us," said Blackhawks defenseman Aaron Johnson. "It was just a full 60-minute game where you couldn't even relax.

"The more we get closer (to the end of the season), it seems like they're all playoff games now."

That certainly will be the case today when the Hawks host Vancouver at 6 p.m. with the crucial fourth playoff spot in the Western Conference hanging in the balance. A Canucks victory would put both teams in a tie with 91 points apiece with the Hawks having one game in hand.

"A lot of people are talking about that," Hawks forward Ben Eager said. "We're just going to show up and play hard. We need these points; we want to get fourth place locked up. But they have the same intentions."

Do they ever.

After their 4-1 victory in Colorado on Friday, all the Canucks could talk about was tonight's showdown with the Hawks.

"We're trying to get in the playoffs. That's our main goal and right now we're looking at the teams ahead of us and right now Chicago is one of them," Vancouver's Henrik Sedin told reporters.

"It's going to be another big game, but every game coming up right now is going to be huge.

"We're going to take it as a playoff game, and we've got to play like it."

Though the Hawks didn't reach the postseason last year, Patrick Kane said the experience of getting so close has proved beneficial this season.

"You look at the end of the season last year and every game we were pretty much fighting for our lives the last month," Kane said. "This one will probably be another game like that.

"These are real fun; these are the ones you get up for. They say big players get up for big games, and this is another case of that. We have a little advantage in being in our building with our home crowd. I'm sure the crowd will be amped up.

"It's important; it could be a playoff matchup - you don't know what could happen down the road. Obviously we want to set a good first impression against Vancouver and make sure they don't want to play us (in the playoffs)."

Though the Hawks hold a 2-1 series advantage the Canucks might hold the mental edge courtesy of their 7-3 drubbing the last time the teams met in Vancouver.

"You could use that as motivation," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "But there are a lot of reasons; I think the most important is where we are (in the standings). We want to sustain the momentum we have right now."

Regardless of the motivation, Eager is expecting another wild one when the puck drops.

"We've had three interesting games so far and I figure this will be the same thing," he said.