Best in the west.
The idle Chicago Blackhawks clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and top spot in the Central Division after the Minnesota Wild lost to the Nashville Predators on Sunday afternoon.
The Predators' 3-0 victory gave the Blackhawks their ninth consecutive postseason berth and ensured them of home-ice advantage for the first three rounds of the playoffs.
It's their 16th division title and the second time in franchise history that they've earned the top seed in the conference.
Chicago last entered the playoffs as the best in the West in 2012-13, also the last time it won the Central Division title. That season, the Blackhawks won their second Stanley Cup championship in four years and second of what would ultimately be three titles in a six-year span.
The Blackhawks sit nine points clear of the Wild atop the Central and three points behind the Washington Capitals in the Presidents' Trophy race with four games left in Chicago's regular-season schedule.
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