For most of the season, the Blackhawks have trailed the high-scoring Minnesota Wild in NHL Central standings of the Western Conference. With the team’s back against the wall, the Blackhawks have reeled off a amazing 15-3 record in its last 18 games. Coupled with a Wild record of 10-10 over the same 6 1/2-week period, Chicago has surged to the lead in both the division and the conference.

With home ice advantage throughout the conference playoffs at stake, the remaining schedule favors the Wild. Of its 13 remaining games, 8 of them will be played at home. For the Blackhawks, only 12 games remain on the schedule with 5 of them scheduled to be played in Chicago. On the season, the Blackhawks hold a 3-1 advantage over the Wild head-to-head with two wins in Minnesota.

While the schedule slants in its favor, the Wild has to be concerned about its recent play. The culprit could well be an offense that has gone missing in action. After resting at the top of the scoring list for much of the season, they have only managed to score 17 goals through 8 games in March. That’s a miniscule 2.13 goals per game compared to a season average of 3.2 goals per game. That kind of offensive output isn’t going to advance the cause of any team in the “Wild Wild West.”

For the Blackhawks’ part, they have managed to cut down on mental mistakes and penalty minutes, which plagued them early in the season. This has allowed them to hold opponents to less than 2 goals per game over the last 8 games. If they can maintain that kind of discipline, they would remain very tough to beat through the rest of the season.

Without anyone else in the division or conference threatening to make a move, it would appear that everything thing comes down to these two teams. If Patrick Kane can continue putting up MVP caliber numbers (77 goals, 46 assists), there’s no reason to believe the Blackhawks shouldn’t be considered favorites to with the Western Conference title and end up with a chance to win another Stanley Cup.

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