Follow JJ on Twitter @jaeckel!
With Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Brad Richards, Kimmo Timonen and Patrick Kane all sitting, the Hawks lost a close game to the Avalanche last night in Denver, 3-2.
Clearly, head coach Joel Quenneville has been holding things back a bit of late, knowing that the Hawks would likely finish second or even more likely third in the division.
If there's a silver lining to the cloud of going 0-4 down the stretch, it's the Hawks's first round oppoent, Nashville, has gone 0-6 down the stretch.
And a lot of Hawks got some rest for the playoffs, especially Timonen, Richards and kane.
Kane, let's face it, that's the huge questionmark for this series and really the entire playoffs for Chicago. He is ahead of schedule on his recovery from surgery to fuse a broken clavicle. But how far?
Plug Kane into the Chicago lineup, especially with the late-season additions of Antoine Vermette and Andrew Desjardins, and the Blackhawks become as formidable a foe as there is in the West— if not the entire NHL.
Without him, they are a team that will struggle to score.
I have heard zip from sources on Kane's potential return, but my gut tells me we will see him before the end of the first round, and possibly immediately following a third Nashville win in the opening round.
Some early looks at the numbers and trends tells me to take the Hawks in this series, but it will not be an easy walk. I also think this series will come down to goaltending. Corey Crawford will have to be as good or better than he has been down the stretch. The Hawks will have to expose Pekka Rinne as mortal. That simple.
Even strength, the Hawks are (typically, though not lately) the irresistible foce, the Preds the immovable object. On special teams, it's a little the opposite.
Special teams also could be the key to tipping this series.
And for Chicago, the combination of a strong penalty kill and Crawford's heroics maybe what they count on to keep them alive until Kane's return.
I'll have a complete series breakdown either later today or tomorrow.