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The Detroit Red Wings host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon to close out the regular season with both teams looking to improve their playoff position.
The Red Wings were tripped up by New Jersey on Thursday after it appeared a strong close to the season would wrap up home ice for the first round of the playoffs. Instead, the loss dropped the Wings to fifth place in the Western Conference and increased the importance of the final game against Chicago.
Detroit is one point behind Nashville for fourth place and first-round home ice, so a win and a Nashville loss to Colorado would put the Red Wings in fourth place. But Chicago is lurking just two points behind Detroit, so if the Blackhawks leave Joe Louis Arena with a win, they will push Detroit down to the sixth spot in the playoffs.
So Detroit will have to find a way to get the puck past Corey Crawford to earn the win. The puck drops at 1:00 p.m. ET and will be televised on NBC.
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