Believe it or not, all hope isn’t lost quite yet lost on the Chicago Blackhawks securing a wild card spot. While the odds may seem insurmountable, the Blackhawks are just 6 points behind the Minnesota Wild and when its all put into perspective the Blackhawks are still in a good position.
So just how do the Chicago Blackhawks get into the playoffs? The answer is 40, the Blackhawks need 40 points in the second half to reach a total of 95 points. With 95 points the Blackhawks have the possibility of securing a wild card spot.
Getting 40 points may seem like a daunting task for these Blackhawks but it becomes more realistic when 40 points are visualized. A record of 17-9-6 would get the Blackhawks to the magic number of 40.
Obviously, the Blackhawks reaching 40 points is entirely dependent on how well the other Central Division teams are playing.
One thing that we’ve learned about the Wild is that they always seem to struggle in the second half of the season and that might be what the Blackhawks need. The Colorado Avalanche have caused the Central Division to be more competitive than usual with a rebound after last seasons ugly effort.
The Blackhawks need to put a strong effort into every game from here on out. It’s promising to see how well the Blackhawks played against the Nashville Predators, however, if we’ve learned anything this season the Blackhawks can have some awful losing streaks.
A big factor in the Blackhawks making it to the playoffs is if they can get a healthy Corey Crawford back in goal. Luckily Forsberg has looked impressive in net the past two games, especially with his 42 save performance turned in against the Predators.
Right now the Blackhawks need to ride the hot hand that is Forsberg, Jeff Glass is a great story but the Blackhawks can’t afford theatrics at this point in the season. Glass should only be used in a back to back situation or if Forsberg ever has a bad night.
It’s about time Coach Q has realized that Patrick Sharp hasn’t really been helping the Blackhawks out and has been benching him in favor of Tommy Wingels. Wingels brings a little bit more to the table with his ability to kill penalties and bring some toughness into the lineup. Hear more from Wingels after the win against Nashville:
Each game #CHIvsNSH game this year has been decided by one goal.
Wingels: "They're a heck of a team. We feel like we're a heck of a team as well. We match up well. We just have to go out there and execute." #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/4q4S3TWTmj
— Eric Lear (@BHTVeric) January 30, 2018
The Blackhawks are in playoff hockey mode and need to take 1 game at a time to make up ground on the rest of the Central Division. Get ready for some intense hockey down the stretch, time will tell if the Blackhawks still have some fight in them.
Corey Crawford takes a step forward as he returns to ice
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