With the Wild's 3-0 loss to the Predators on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn., the Blackhawks clinched the Central Division title and home-ice advantage through the Western Conference playoffs.
This is the Hawks' third division title in the last eight seasons; they also won it in 2009-10 and 2012-13 and went on to win the Stanley Cup each of those years. They finished third in the division in 2014-15 when they won their third Cup in six years.
"We were pretty fortunate, some of the wins we had early on," coach Joel Quenneville said Saturday. "But I like how we've progressed. It's a tough league, tough conference, tough division, but we're happy with what we've achieved. That's not what we're looking for, but it's certainly put us in the spot we wanted.
"We're not fighting Game 82 to get in (the playoffs), so it's been a good season in that regard."
The Hawks were trailing the Wild for much of January and February, but thanks to a run that included 17 wins in 20 games _ including three against the Wild _ the Hawks took control of the division.
They also reached 50 victories for the second time in franchise history with their 3-1 win against the Blue Jackets on Friday. They have four games left, including Sunday's matinee against the Bruins at the United Center.
"Those two victories in Minnesota in back-to-back weeks (in February), we could've distanced ourselves the other way where we would've been fighting a different fight," Quenneville said. "I certainly liked the response we've had. We won some big games."
