Among people who don’t live in Chicago, expectations heading into this season were that the Central would be tight again. It might very well have turned out that way, had the Blackhawks not found a way to resemble some sort of user-created All-Star team from a video-game fever dream. Throw in a rash of injuries to the other division powers and a late surge by the Columbus Blue Jackets, and suddenly figuring out who else is going to emerge from the Central after Chicago clinches the title in another week or two becomes nearly impossible.

Here’s a look at how things stand now that each team in the division has played 24 games.

NHL CENTRAL DIVISION: AT THE HALFWAY POINT

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
21-1-3 (45 points)

Patrick Kane has been the hero on many a night for the Blackhawks this season. (PHOTO: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports)

The best start to a season in NHL history has the Blackhawks in the driver’s seat not just for the Central, but for the NHL. They’ve had stellar goaltending from both Corey Crawford (11-1-3, 1.81 GAA, .930 SV%) and Ray Emery (10-0-0, 2.05, .924), giving the team the best goals-against average (1.96) in the league. Patrick Kane (12G-15A) is averaging better than a point per game, and Jonathan Toews (11G-11A) and Marian Hossa (10G-9A) aren’t far behind that pace.

The Hawks may have lost their first regulation game of the season this past week, but they’ve already almost clinched a playoff spot and are near-locks for the Division title. They’ll be without the services of Patrick Sharp (5G-13A) for the next few weeks due to injury, but this team is playing excellent hockey and will be hard to stop anytime before the playoffs arrive.

ST. LOUIS BLUES
13-9-2 (28 points)

The Blues got off to a 6-1-0 start before dropping like a lead balloon, losing five in a row and four straight at home. They haven’t quite found their footing, but they have managed to get most of the fires under control.

There’s been a lot of goalie-shuffling in St. Louis this season. (PHOTO: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports)

Goaltending was the Blues’ strength last season but it’s been an Achilles heel this year. Jaroslav Halak (5-2-1, 2.31, .884) got off to a great start before faltering and then being injured. Brian Elliott (3-6-1, 3.65, .851) has snapped back hard from last year’s success, and AHL call-up Jake Allen (5-1-0, 2.73, .891) has a better win-loss record than either of his teammates but still sports a shaky save percentage. Offense has been a constant, though. They’re averaging three goals per game and 11 of their players have at least 10 points, led by Chris Stewart (9G-12A), David Perron (8G-11A), and Kevin Shattenkirk (2G-17A).

DETROIT RED WINGS
12-9-4 (28 points)

Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Brunner have dragged the Red Wings up to third place. (PHOTO: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports)

Losing Nicklas Lidstrom to retirement was obviously a blow to the Red Wings, but the longer shadow this season has been cast by injuries. They have hampered this year’s Red Wings since before the season even began. Not only has that led to more “Walking Dead” jokes at their expense than any other team in the Western Conference, but it’s had an impact on their bottom line. Their defense is giving up a highly uncharacteristic 2.52 goals per game, which in turn has given starting goalie Jimmy Howard (10-7-3, 2.50, .915) a rough ride.

The Red Wings’ offense is still as capable as ever of producing points, though. First-year captain Henrik Zetterberg (6G-20A) and puck magician Pavel Datsyuk (8G-16A) are among the league’s top 30 scorers, and Swiss import Damien Brunner (10G-8A) has been consistent in his first NHL season.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS
10-9-6 (26 points)

Pekka Rinne and the Predators have been scrambling all season long. (PHOTO: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports)

Pekka Rinne (9-8-5, 2.09, .920) has been the team’s backbone as expected, posting an NHL-best four shutouts, but his win-loss record has suffered behind a team that’s been terribly inconsistent on offense and occasionally bad on defense as well. Shea Weber (3G-10A) is beginning to find his form again after starting slow. The fact that Captain Weber tied for second on the team in points says more about struggling forwards like Martin Erat (3G-10A) and David Legwand (5G-4A) than the worthiness of his efforts.

Injuries have begun to take a toll lately. Patric Hornqvist (3G-5A), who missed three weeks earlier in the season, is out again. The penalty kill has suffered without the presence of Hal Gill, dropping to 26th in the league. And Colin Wilson (7G-12A) will miss an as-yet-undetermined number of games after leaving last night’s contest with Minnesota. Right now there’s no light at the end of the tunnel for the Preds, and advance scouting doesn’t show much reason to believe one will appear over the next 23 games without a lot of luck.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
9-12-4 (22 points)

Sergei Bobrovsky has made the most of the situation in Columbus. (PHOTO: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports)

Just two weeks ago, with only 12 points from 18 games and a 5-11-2 record, the Blue Jackets were looking like the same old terrible team everyone always expects them to be. But after a four-game win streak they’re suddenly within striking distance of the rest of the NHL Central Division.

Sergei Bobrovsky (7-6-3, 2.30, .919) has proven to be a good acquisition for the Jackets, but Steve Mason (2-6-1, 3.08, .897) has been like a dragging anchor with his continued struggles. The team’s leading scorer is 38-year-old Vinny Prospal (9G-5A), and its leading assist man Fedor Tyutin (1G-12A). In all, 18 different Blue Jackets players have scored for a team that looks an awful lot like the Nashville Predators of yore on the eve of their impending move to the Eastern Conference. They’re still a long shot for the playoffs, but they look a lot better than they have in recent years.

Around The Central Division: February 20, 2013

YESTERDAY

Nashville Predators 4, Detroit Red Wings 3 (OT)

The Nashville Predators opened the season series with their biggest rival in front of yet another sellout crowd. More importantly, they gave the crowd what they wanted with a thrilling overtime win. Craig Smith and Roman Josi both picked up their first goals of the season. And Shea Weber was named one of the league’s three stars for the night for his OT winner, which marked his third straight game with a goal and fourth straight with a point. Colin Wilson also added two assists to bring his point streak to a career-high five games.

Pekka Rinne picked up the win. Jonas Gustavsson took the loss in relief of the Jimmy Howard, who left with blurry vision after giving up two goals in the first period. Here’s the view from Music City. Octopus Thrower laments what was not.

The Sharks finally won a game in February. (PHOTO: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports)

San Jose Sharks 2, St. Louis Blues 1

Just like everybody else has been doing in February, the Blues jumped out in front of the Sharks in the first period thanks to a Patrik Berglund goal. Then the Sharks did something they appeared to have forgotten how to do: they came back for the win. A second-period goal from Joe Thornton and another in the third from Tim Kennedy ended the Blues’ brief winning streak.

Jake Allen took the loss, Antti Niemi got the win. Bleedin’ Blue has the post-mortem.

Chicago tied the record for most games with a point to open the season. (PHOTO: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports)

Chicago Blackhawks 4, Vancouver Canucks 3 (SO)

The Blackhawks’ winning ways continued with their second shootout victory in five tries this season, this time at home over the visiting Canucks. They actually had a chance to put it away in regulation, leading by two with 2:42 left in the game, but gave up two goals in less than two minutes to send the game to overtime. Patrick Kane and Andrew Shaw scored for Chicago in the shootout.

Hawks fans will be glad to get the two points but they’re holding their collective breath waiting to see if Marian Hossa is all right. Hossa left the game in the third period after Vancouver’s Jannik Hansen hit him while making a play for a mid-air puck. Hansen will face a disciplinary hearing the league over the incident.

Ray Emery earned the win, Cory Schneider took the loss. Blackhawk Up surveys the land from lofty heights.

Transactions

It’s been a few days since the last Central Division report. Here’s a rundown of all the transactions since then.

Columbus Blue Jackets recalled LW Sean Collins from Springfield (AHL), assigned D Cody Goloubef to Springfield, and reassigned RW Trent Vogelhuber from Evansville (ECHL) to Springfield (AHL).

Detroit Red Wings placed F Johan Franzen on injured reserve, assigned G Jonas Gustavsson to Grand Rapids (AHL) for conditioning, recalled Gustavsson from Grand Rapids, and assigned G Petr Mrazek to Grand Rapids.

Nashville Predators acquired D Scott Ford from St. Louis Blues for F Jani Lajunen and assigned Ford to Milwaukee (AHL).

Standings

Leaders

Points: Patrick Kane (CHI) – 20
Goals: Patrick Kane (CHI), Patrik Berglund (STL) - 9
Assists: Henrik Zetterberg (DET) – 16
PIM: Jared Boll (CBJ) – 65
Wins: Corey Crawford (CHI), Pekka Rinne (NSH) – 7
GAA: Corey Crawford (CHI) – 1.65
SV%: Corey Crawford (CHI), Pekka Rinne (NSH) – .935
Shutouts: Pekka Rinne (NSH) – 3**

** – denotes tie for league lead

TODAY

The Blues will look to get on track against one of the Western Conference’s worst teams. (PHOTO: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports)

St. Louis Blues (9-6-1) at Colorado Avalanche (6-7-1)
9:00 p.m. CST
NBC Sports Network

After the tough loss at home to San Jose last night, the Blues take their act on the road to Colorado. Maybe they’ll get a fair shake from the referees there since another Central Division team got the shaft. Bleedin’ Blue has a preview.