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CHICAGO -- Aside from the final score, the Minnesota Wild achieved Tuesday much of what they had hoped in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Wild slowed the Blackhawks' offensive attack, got in the way of their shots and forced a tight one-goal game which was only decided by the Blackhawks in the final five minutes of overtime.

The Wild's game plan was no surprise to the Blackhawks. They assumed the Wild would play in such a fashion and expect to see more of it the rest of the series. But the Blackhawks hope to put some more pucks past Wild goaltenders in Game 2 and beyond.

"It goes back -- Minnesota has always defended the front of their net extremely well," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said on Wednesday. "They collapse like a lot of teams in our league do. They protect that slot area. It's tough to penetrate with direct plays. Indirect plays off the goalie is the best way to get that guy the puck in the slot, so hopefully we get more pucks and more bodies in traffic at the net and look to get second and third opportunities. But the clean looks through the middle of the ice at their end is going to be hard to find."

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Editor's note: These rankings are based on player production in terms of Hockey Prospectus' GVT valuation metric. If you are unfamiliar with GVT and how it works, you can find more here.

Every Monday during the season, Prospectus provided updated Player Power Rankings for the top 10 skaters and top five goalies in the NHL based on HP's proprietary value metric, GVT, a statistic that combines player contributions in all aspects of the game, including defense and the shootout.

The 2012-13 season featured the tightest grouping of top players (from a rankings perspective) in recent memory. It was Sidney Crosby and everyone else until Game 36 of the season, when Crosby's jaw injury opened up the MVP race. The race for MVP among skaters was so tight that the league's top scorer, Martin St. Louis, does not even appear in the top 10 GVT list (he finished 13th), while Jonathan Toews, who tops our list, ranked 13th in points.

Toews, Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and Patrick Kane, all of whom finished within 0.6 GVT of each other, each has a solid claim to being the non-goaltending MVP this season.

On the goaltending side, Craig Anderson was the best goaltender by a fair amount for the first five weeks of the season. However, he got injured and missed six weeks, and was ultimately good but not spectacular upon his return. Familiar faces such as Henrik Lundqvist, Tuukka Rask and Antti Niemi were among the contenders for best goaltender, but ultimately it was journeyman Sergei Bobrovsky, with only 83 games of NHL experience heading into this season, who emerged as the league's best goaltender in 2013.

Read the entire story here.

CHICAGO -- Here’s a quick look at the Chicago Blackhawks' 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the United Center on Friday.

How it happened: Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane briefly took the team lead in goals by notching his 23rd of the season at 9:34 of the first period. Less than four minutes later, Jonathan Toews caught up to his Kane with his 23rd goal of the season. Marcus Kruger added a third goal for the Blackhawks in the third period. Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford made 25 saves and improved to 19-5-5 on the season. Chris Butler scored a short-handed goal in the second period for the Flames.

Player of the game: Toews scored his fifth game-winning goal of the season. He ranks second on the Blackhawks behind Marian Hossa, who has six game-winners.

What it means: The Blackhawks didn’t have much to play for Friday. They already secured the Presidents’ Trophy earlier in the week. With Friday’s win, they improved to 36-6-5 with an NHL-best 75 points. It could have been the final regular-season game for a number of Blackhawks starters. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville is expected to sit a number of regulars on Saturday after recalling nine players from the AHL on Friday. The Flames finished their season with a 19-25-4 record.

What’s next: The Blackhawks close out the regular season on the road against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. The Blackhawks are 3-0-1 against the Blues this season.

EDMONTON -- While not the trophy they originally had their sights on, it’s one the Chicago Blackhawks will definitely take en route to the ultimate prize.

The Blackhawks on Wednesday clinched the Presidents’ Trophy with a 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

By posting the league’s best record, the Blackhawks will have home-ice advantage throughout the NHL playoffs.

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CHICAGO -- In a season where Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane hasn’t had the luxury of skating with consistent linemates, he has been more consistent than anyone offensively on the Blackhawks. His linemates have often changed from game to game, but he’s continued to rack up points and still ranks among the league’s leaders in goals and assists.

“I’ve always been a guy who doesn’t think it matters who you play with,” said Kane, who leads the Blackhawks and is tied for fourth in the NHL with 51 points. “I think as long as you’re working hard, you’re supporting each other, trying to make the right plays and simple plays, you’re going to have success. That’s what I’ve tried to stress to either one of my linemates.”

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville’s plan entering the season was utilize Kane alongside Patrick Sharp and Dave Bolland on the second line. Quenneville has been able to execute that plan in just 18 games. Because of various injuries, Sharp and Bolland have combined to miss 28 games.

In their place, Quenneville has mixed and matched a variety of linemates with Kane. Kane has started games with 10 different pairings and skated with nine different players on the second line.

Aside from the 18 games with Bolland and Sharp, Kane has started nine games with Bolland and Jimmy Hayes, seven games with Sharp and Marcus Kruger, three games with Bolland and Kruger, two games with Kruger and Daniel Carcillo, one game with Bolland and Michael Frolik, one game with Bolland and Carcillo, one game with Bolland and Bryan Bickell, one game with Sharp and Andrew Shaw and one game with Bolland and Viktor Stalberg.

Despite all the changes, Kane’s play hasn’t fluctuated. He’s recorded a point in 33 of his 44 games this season. He once went three games without a point and once two games. Other than that, he’s bounced back six times with a point after not having one the game before.

Kane has had two eight-game point streaks and another of five games. He had 10 points in seven games in January, 14 points in 13 games in February, 18 points in 14 games in March and currently has nine points in 10 games in April. He started April off slow, but has registered five points in his last three games.

“I think there’s been some injuries obviously to both of my linemates,” said Kane, who has 21 goals and 30 assists. “There’s been certain guys who have played well in those roles, certain guys I have kind of clicked off with. I know it’s changed a little bit, but for me, personally, just try to work hard, find my game where it was at the beginning of the season and get back to that level.”

Quenneville has been impressed with Kane from the start of the season to the end of it. Quenneville recently said he thought Kane and Jonathan Toews were worthy of Hart Memorial Trophy consideration.

“I think all year long he’s been productive,” Quenneville said of Kane last week. “That line has a lot of different looks on it be it your centerman, be it your left winger. He’s played [with] some different [lines.] He keeps doing his thing.

“It seems like he’s got the puck a lot. He’s a threat. He gives the opponent something to be concerned about when he’s on the ice. When you got that 1-2 punch [in lines,] I think that makes us a different type of team.”

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks' result -- a 3-2 shootout loss to the Phoenix Coyotes -- was ultimately irrelevant Saturday.

While the Blackhawks would love to win every game, there's no shame in losing in a shootout at this point of the season, especially considering where the Blackhawks have put themselves atop the Western Conference standings.

What really matters this time of the season is how the Blackhawks are playing overall. And in the eyes of captain Jonathan Toews, the team is playing just how it wants leading into the final four games of the season.

"We're playing against some teams who are hungry, that are working really hard to get points to earn a playoff spot," Toews said. "We're making it as hard as we can on those teams. We've shown we can keep rolling four lines. We can kill penalties. Right now, the power play is back on track the last couple games. I'd say we got a lot of confidence in all the areas of game. That's exactly what we want to get going these last few games or so."

The Blackhawks have to be especially giddy about what the power play has done the past two games. After going scoreless on the power play in nine consecutive games, the Blackhawks have scored four power-play goals in their past two games. Brent Seabrook, who was celebrating his 28th birthday, scored both power-play goals Saturday.

The power play had been the one major concern heading into the playoffs, and now it seems it could benefit the Blackhawks in a tight playoff affair.

"It was good," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said of the power play. "I like the power play. I thought we had good motion, good movement, good options, thinking shot. Seabs' one-timer, Seabs in the slot, couple nice feeds as well. Nice to see some finished product. I think that definitely was a sore point for a stretch of games, nice to have something positive come out of it on the power-play side."

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CHICAGO -- With the Central Division and the top seed in the Western Conference already secured, the only remaining regular-season achievement for the Chicago Blackhawks to attain is winning the Presidents’ Trophy, which is awarded to the team with the most points.

While the Blackhawks wouldn’t decline the trophy if they finish first, it’s not something they’re focusing on as they close out the regular season and prepare for the playoffs.

Heading into their game Saturday, the Blackhawks lead the NHL with 72 points through 43 games. The Penguins, who won on Saturday afternoon, are just behind them with 68 points through 44 games.

“It’s a cool thing that people talk about, but they won’t talk about it very long, I don’t think,” Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said recently of the Presidents’ Trophy. “It’s not that important. Of course, we want to be the best. We’ve put ourselves at the top throughout the entire season. We want to stay there. But that fact it’s called the Presidents’ Trophy, it doesn’t mean a whole lot to us. We’re preparing ourselves for the postseason, and that’s the most important thing right now.”

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville shared a similar feeling as his captain.

“We’d like to win that, but we’ll see,” Quenneville said prior to Saturday’s game against the Phoenix Coyotes. “Pittsburgh won again. We’ll do what we can do, but we’re looking to play that game we’re playing. We’re looking to win that game. We’re not looking too much further.”

The Blackhawks’ chances of winning the Stanley Cup likely won’t increase if they take the Presidents’ Trophy. Since the Presidents’ Trophy was created prior to the 1985-86 season, only seven teams that earned the Presidents’ Trophy won the Stanley Cup in the same season.

Last season, the Vancouver Canucks captured the Presidents’ Trophy and were upset in the first round of the playoffs by the Los Angeles Kings, who went on to win the Stanley Cup.

“Hey, you saw last year the eighth seed,” Quenneville said. “Anyone can win. When you look at this year, when you look at the Western Conference’s top eight teams, you got to think everybody thinks they can win.”

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks had gone so long without scoring a power-play goal their coach couldn’t even remember when the last one occurred.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville can be forgiven for his inability to recall it. Their last power-play goal didn’t even happen in the month of April. He would have had to gone back to March 29 against the Anaheim Ducks to locate it.

But after a nine-game drought and 0-for-19 scoreless streak, the Blackhawks finally broke out of their slump by scoring a power-play goal on their first opportunity Friday and later added another power-play goal for the game-winner to defeat the Nashville Predators 5-4 at the United Center.

“It was good,” Quenneville said. “The power play did some good things. Obviously the finished product is what we’re looking for. Our 4-on-3 [overtime power play] looked good as well. It was a long time coming. We were talking about it when we scored after the first period, ‘When was the last time we scored on the PP?’ It seemed like a long, long time ago. It was nice to see to get that off our back.”

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In about a week, I will fill out my official NHL awards ballot as a member of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.

The PHWA votes on the Hart Trophy as well as the Norris, Calder and Selke. The NHL’s 30 general managers vote on the Vezina Trophy, and the NHL Broadcasters’ Association votes on the Jack Adams Award.

I reserve the right, certainly, to change my mind on these picks between now and next week, but here’s where I stand:

HART TROPHY

The candidates: Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf, Jonathan Toews, Sergei Bobrovsky, John Tavares, Alex Ovechkin

I’m really torn on what to do about Crosby. He easily was the best player on the planet this season. He brought his game to a level no other player could match. And as late as a few days ago, I still thought I’d give him my first-place vote despite his late-season injury. But the fact he hasn’t played a game in April is beginning to weigh more in my thoughts. The Hart also isn’t for the most outstanding player or the most outstanding season, but rather the MVP. Take that player away from the team and argue what impact it would have.

Well, for Pittsburgh, whether it’s been without Evgeni Malkin or Crosby, the Eastern Conference powerhouse has just kept winning games...

Ovechkin’s late-season heroics certainly put him in serious contention. But if we’re going to potentially penalize Crosby’s chances because he missed the past month, how can we overlook Ovechkin for not showing up in the opening month? Just saying.

Getzlaf is completely flying under the radar, perhaps because he’s playing on the West Coast. But he’s fully deserving of being in the mix here.

For me, though, it comes down to Tavares or Toews for my first-place vote. Tavares has carried the Islanders on his back this season. Ask yourself: Where would the Isles be without him?

Having said that, how can you not reward Captain Serious in Chicago? The Blackhawks have been the most consistent powerhouse in the NHL this season, a wire-to-wire dominance fueled by the consistent work ethic and performance of their leader.

My pick: Toews

NORRIS TROPHY

The candidates: P.K. Subban, Ryan Suter, Kris Letang, Niklas Kronwall, Drew Doughty, Duncan Keith, Francois Beauchemin, Oliver Ekman-Larsson

With Letang missing a dozen games -- a quarter of the shortened season -- this comes down to Subban or Suter.

Subban, who leads all defensemen in scoring, has been out of this world, playing like a man on a mission after returning from an early-season contract squabble. The Habs aren’t where they are without him.

Suter, though, is second in the NHL in average ice time (27:01), third in scoring among defensemen as of Friday morning, and overall has been a standout at both ends of the ice in his first season in Minnesota.

My pick: Suter

VEZINA TROPHY
The candidates: Craig Anderson, Sergei Bobrovsky, Tuukka Rask, Henrik Lundqvist, Antti Niemi, Carey Price, James Reimer, Viktor Fasth, Marc-Andre Fleury

It will be interesting to see how the league’s GMs will vote on this. There are some newcomers to the Vezina race this season.

To me it comes down to Rask, Niemi and Bobrovsky, with the impressive Anderson having missed too many games to get in that final circle.

Rask has been rock solid in his first season as the No. 1 in Boston after taking over from Tim Thomas. You can’t ask for anything more from him.

Niemi isn't getting nearly enough credit around the league for what he’s done in San Jose. The Sharks have had trouble scoring goals, but he’s kept their season afloat with his best career season. He deserves serious, serious consideration.

But how do you not look at Bobrovsky? His .931 save percentage says it all. He’s carried the Blue Jackets into playoff contention.

My pick: "Bob"

JACK ADAMS AWARD

The candidates: Paul MacLean, Michel Therrien, Bruce Boudreau, Joel Quenneville, Todd Richards, Randy Carlyle, Adam Oates, Alain Vigneault, Dan Bylsma, Claude Julien

I say this every year, but I’m glad I don’t officially vote for this one. There are so many deserving candidates every season, and I didn’t even mention some others. The members of the NHL Broadcasters’ Association vote on this one, and good luck to them.

Therrien took last season's last-place Habs in the East to challenging for second in the conference this year. That’s hard to overlook. Carlyle made the Maple Leafs a playoff team, which few people predicted. Boudreau took the Ducks from near-the-basement in the West to second in the conference.

Quenneville and Bylsma likely will get penalized because their teams were expected to be dominant, but that’s unfair. They’re both superb coaches.

To me, though, I don’t know how MacLean doesn’t win this. Injuries to top players Erik Karlsson, Anderson, Jared Cowen, Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek should have been season killers. But Maclean and his staff kept it together, integrated a number of AHL call-ups into the Senators' system and against all odds stayed in a playoff spot. Simply remarkable.

My pick: MacLean

CALDER TROPHY

The candidates: Jonathan Huberdeau, Cory Conacher, Brendan Gallagher, Nail Yakupov, Brandon Saad, Alex Galchenyuk, Justin Schultz, Dougie Hamilton, Jonas Brodin

I predict the finalists on the official ballot will end up being Huberdeau, Gallagher and Saad.

I’m torn in the end between Huberdeau and Gallagher. The former has been electrifying for the Florida Panthers, his speed and vision and offensive creativity top-shelf.

Gallaher really grows on you for different reasons, going to the dirty areas and playing a veteran’s game. He’s been so clutch for the Habs.

Really torn here between these two but ...

My pick: Huberdeau

SELKE TROPHY

The candidates: Jay McClement, Frans Nielsen, Patrice Bergeron, Vernon Fiddler, Jonathan Toews, Craig Adams, Daniel Winnik, David Backes, Ryan Callahan, Pavel Datsyuk

You can never go wrong here with Bergeron, Toews or Datsyuk, out-of-this-world stars who do it all at both ends of the ice. And I suspect Bergeron, deservingly, will win it again this year.

But I’m going to go against the grain here a little and voice my support for the Maple Leafs’ McClement.

For starters, part of me wishes this award would go back to non-superstar NHLers like in the old days, when the likes of Guy Carbonneau, Dave Poulin and Dirk Graham won.

Fact is, McClement’s case is a real strong one. He leads all NHL forwards in shorthanded ice time per game (3:39) and he’s the No. 1 reason for Toronto’s remarkable turnaround on the penalty kill, going from 28th last season to third overall this season.

If you really look at the spirit of why this award exists, and look at when Bob Gainey routinely won it, McClement deserves to win it.

My pick: McClement

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks were worried about their third-period play not too long ago.

Just last month, the Blackhawks dropped three of four games -- twice to the Anaheim Ducks and once to the Los Angeles Kings -- due to their play in the third period. Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane went as far as calling it the team's first adversity of the season.

The Blackhawks guaranteed the issue would be addressed and addressed it has been. In their last six games, all wins, the Blackhawks have outscored their opponents 8-2 in the third period.

On Monday, the Blackhawks were tested and responded again in the third period. The Dallas Stars evened Monday's game at 2-2 with a goal at 3:07 of third period. One minute and 24 seconds later, the Blackhawks answered with a goal from Andrew Shaw and tacked on two more goals on their way to a 5-2 win.

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CHICAGO -- The questions Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews answered about the team's power play after games last season aren't that much different than the ones he's gotten this season.

The only difference now is the Blackhawks are winning despite their power-play struggles.

The Blackhawks went their ninth consecutive game Monday without a power-play goal as they were shut out on four chances in their 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars. Despite their power-play woes, which have included 19 consecutive scoreless power plays, they have gone 8-0-1 during the stretch.

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In a physical first period, the Blackhawks might have got the worst of it when Jonathan Toews was forced off the ice after a hit from the Blues' David Backes with about three minutes left in the period.

Backes appeared to hit Toews around his right knee. Toews was limping as he left the ice and went to the locker room.

Toews returned to take the opening face-off of the second period.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks are working rapidly down their list of season goals.

First came clinching a playoff berth. They did that on April 7.

Second was clinching the Central Division. They accomplished that Friday with a 3-2 shootout win over the Detroit Red Wings at the United Center coupled with a St. Louis Blues' loss.

The Blackhawks appeared as if they were going to have to wait at least one more game to take the division crown. They trailed the Red Wings by a goal from late into the second period to the final minutes of the third period. But with 2:57 remaining in the third period, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews knocked in a loose puck in front of the net and gave his team life.

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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks have had to scratch and claw for a playoff spot the past few years. This season was a much different story.

In 2011, the Blackhawks clinched a playoff spot on the final day of the season. Last season, they achieved it with three games to go.

On Sunday, the Blackhawks became the first Western Conference team to secure a playoff spot by defeating the Nashville Predators 5-3 and improving to 29-5-4 with a league-best 62 points. With 10 games to go in the condensed 48-game regular season, the Blackhawks clinched their spot with 20.8 percent of the season remaining.

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CHICAGO -- Here’s a quick look at the Chicago Blackhawks' 5-3 win over the Nashville Predators at the United Center on Sunday.

How it happened: The Blackhawks responded from a one-goal deficit in third period to score two consecutive goals within 65 seconds to capture the win. After the Predators’ David Legwand put his team ahead 3-2 at 6:54 of the third period, Brandon Saad scored for the Blackhawks at 9:37 to tie the game, and Jonathan Toews put the Blackhawks ahead at 10:32. Patrick Kane added an empty-netter in the third period. Andrew Shaw and Bryan Bickell also scored for the Blackhawks. Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne made 35 saves, and Blackhawks goaltender Ray Emery made 20 saves and improved to 14-1-0.

Player of the game: Toews provided the game-winner. He also had an assist. He has 19 goals on the season.

What it means: The Blackhawks clinched a playoff spot with the victory. They defeated the Predators for the third time in the last week. The Blackhawks improved to 29-5-4 with an NHL-best 62 points. The Predators haven’t won on the road since March 12.

What’s next: The Blackhawks are back on the road as they travel to face the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.