CHICAGO _ This is where the Blackhawks want to be at this time of the year.
Every season, coach Joel Quenneville says that Blackhawks' goal is to play well enough during the regular season that they don't have to press to make the playoffs in the final week of the season.
The Hawks accomplished that, so a game like Friday's against the Blue Jackets can be a stress-free game, one that could provide entertaining hockey between two of the league's best teams without the weight of playoff complications.
And it lived up to the billing, with the Hawks outlasting the Blue Jackets, 3-1, at the United Center.
Headed into the final week of the season, the Hawks are likely to clinch home ice throughout the Western Conference playoffs while the Presidents' Trophy is likely to go to the Capitals. All that's left is for the Hawks to work on themselves and make sure they are healthy headed into the playoffs.
On that front, the Hawks continued their rebound from a lackluster string of games with a strong effort.
The most encouraging sign for the Hawks over the last two games is that goaltender Corey Crawford has had two of his best games of late after having an uneven second-half of the season.
After limiting the high-firing Penguins to just one goal on Wednesday, Crawford followed that with a 32-save performance as he outdueled Sergei Bobrovsky, the frontrunner for the Vezina Trophy.
Continuing a quick-strike mentality that began Wednesday, the Hawks didn't take long to score on Friday.
Just 32 seconds into the game and four seconds into an early power play, Artemi Panarin scored top shelf from the slot for his first of two goals on the night. Panarin boosted his cause in claiming a potential $1.725 million bonus if he finishes top 10 among forwards in points, assists, goals or points per game. He entered Friday tied for 11th in points with 69. He added his second point with an empty-net goal in the third.
The Blue Jackets scored late in the first period during 4-on-4 play when Nick Foligno shoved in a pass from Sam Gagner past Corey Crawford at 17:15.
But the Hawks again utilized their fast-scoring capabilities on the next shift. Brent Seabrook banked a pass off the boards to Patrick Kane, who initiated a rush chance with Marian Hossa. Kane fired a pass to Hossa, who made a forehand-backhand move to get Sergei Bobrovsky out of position and score at 17:37 for Hossa's 26th goal of the season.
The rest of the night was a display of open-ended, fast-paced hockey from two of the best teams in the league, while the Hawks' goaltender one-upped one of the best goaltenders in the league.
