As a playoff berth has sailed so far out of focus that even the rosiest shade of glasses can no longer see it, the Blackhawks remain home at the United Center on Thursday night for the first of two games in three days against the Panthers.
Florida enters this game with a nice 69 points in 51 games, good for second place in the Central Division in terms of overall points. However, Tampa sits one game behind with 68 points and Carolina is two points ahead, and each of those teams have played only 49 games, which means that the Panthers are more accurately labeled as the third-place team in the Central.