With their win against Detroit in overtime on Monday evening, the Blackhawks created a bit of separation from their nearest competitors. They now lead Calgary and Dallas by three and four points, respectively. Unfortunately, the Ducks' late win against Colorado kept the Hawks in eighth place, behind by one point.
Tonight the Hawks travel to Boston to take on the Bruins. The Bruins are already playoff bound, and currently sit at third in the East. The Hawks and Bruins haven't met since the 2009-2010 season, when the Blackhawks finally swept Boston. The real question for tonight is whether the Blackhawks' motivation will allow them to steal one from a possibly complacent Bruins team.
The loss of Patrick Sharp may be felt greatly tonight with Marian Hossa having historical troubles against the Bruins. Hossa has been one of the more prolific Hawks scorers over the last few weeks, but he's been held scoreless in six games against Boston. If he can break that streak tonight the Blackhawks just might help secure their playoff spot.
Tonight's game will be at 6:30 P.M. and televised on Versus.