Hawks win!

The Jackets get the help they needed tonight as the Chicago Blackhawks knock off the Nashville Predators 3-1 (with the help of an empty net).

The win keeps the Preds 4 points behind the Jackets in 9th place.

You can expect one desperate Preds hockey team tomorrow night in Nashville. The Jackets will need their A-game and will need to weather that first 10 minutes. The Jackets will need to be opportunistic (i.e. no posts just the back of nets) and Mase will once again have to be the man. Get those ugly goals on Rinne like we did on Tuesday boys!

Updated standings:

Team GP W Pts 1. y-San Jose 77 51 113 2. y-Detroit 77 49 107 3. x-Vancouver 77 42 94 4. x-Calgary 78 44 94 5. x-Chicago 76 41 93 6. Columbus 77 40 88 7. Anaheim 78 40 86 8. St. Louis 78 38 85 9. Nashville 77 38 84 10. Minnesota 78 37 83 11. Edmonton 78 36 81 12. Dallas 78 34 78 13. Phoenix 78 34 75 14. Los Angeles 77 31 73 15. Colorado 77 31 64

On a side note with the win the 'hawks just clinched a spot in the Western Conference playoffs for the first time in 7 years. Perhaps we can catch them sleeping on Sunday but for now all of the Jackets focus must be on the Preds -- that game is going to be two cars colliding at 100 mph.

I'll have more tomorrow.

-LTL