Patrick Kane suffered a fracture collarbone on February 24^th and everyone thought the chances of the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Central Division were gone at that moment. But the Blackhawks have been piling up the points. Kane is likely to be out until deep into the post season. Chicago has gone 6-1-1 and made their move in the Central. Winger Marian Hossa said “The fact that we’re winning hockey games without him is a great sign. Hopefully when he comes back we’re still in it and it will be a huge boost.”  Since Sunday, Blackhawks trailed the Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues by five points, but had three games in hand on Nashville and one on St. Louis. Chicago doesn’t have any more games against the Predators, but have two games remaining with the Blues. The schedule favors the Blackhawks as the teams remaining to play have a combined winning percentage of .561, lower than the Blues (.590) and Predators (.577).  The Western Conference is really competitive. The only thing the team can control is how they play, which lately has been at a high level. With no Kane, the focus has been on defense. Goaltender, Corey Crawford has led with points in six consecutive starts (5-0-1). Crawford has allowed two or fewer goals in each game during the stretch. Crawford also has a .962 save percentage and 1.15 goals-against average. The Blackhawks have yielded 13 goals during the seven-plus games without Patrick Kane. So far so good for the Chicago Blackhawks without their leading scorer. They, without a doubt, could make it far without Kane and be even better when he returns.

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