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Blackhawks Open Playoffs With Nashville, Kane Set To Return

Many things often have to break right during a championship-winning season and the Chicago Blackhawks appear to have said luck early on.

 width=Though it got closer than the Blackhawks probably would have liked, the Chicago held off the Minnesota Wild for third place in the division despite a season-ending four-game losing streak. That allowed the Blackhawks to avoid slipping into a wild card spot and facing a division winner.

Chicago will make its seventh straight playoff appearance, a span that includes Cup titles in 2010 and 2013, and avoided a wild card berth despite not having winger Patrick Kane for the final 21 games due to a broken clavicle.

Kane still finished second in the club with 27 goals and 64 points, meaning he conceivably could have been in the running for the league's scoring title had he remained healthy. But winning another championship is the bigger goal and Chicago looks as though it will get Kane back for this series after he was cleared for contact earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Kane declared himself ready to go for the series opener.

That's great news for captain Jonathan Toews, who stepped up his offensive game in Kane's absence, as well as veterans Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp.

Hossa continues to contribute at the age of 36, with 22 goals and 61 points this season, but Sharp struggled with only six goals over his final 34 games while not scoring at all in the month of February.

Head coach Joel Quenneville says he is going to lean heavy on his top four defensemen. 

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