After all they've accomplished this season so far now comes the real test for the Chicago Blackhawks as they begin their Stanley Cup push Tuesday night when they host the visiting Minnesota Wild for Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series kicking off at 8 p.m. ET.

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Via ESPN:

The Blackhawks are favored to make it to the Stanley Cup for the second time in four seasons, but the Wild bring plenty of talent into Game 1 on Tuesday night. Then there is Chicago's recent postseason history, and the checkered performance for past winners of the Presidents' Trophy, adding to the intrigue.

"Everyone knows, if you look at how the playoffs have gone the past couple years, if you're the first or the eighth seed, it doesn't really matter," Jonathan Toews said after the Blackhawks practiced at the United Center on Monday. "So as soon as Game 1 starts tomorrow, everything that happened before that is pretty meaningless and we know that."

Minnesota was thought to be a Stanley Cup contender after it gave free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter identical 13-year, $98 million contracts last summer. But the Wild struggled when they finally got on the ice following the lockout, managing just 22 goals while sputtering to a 4-5-1 start.

They got hot in the middle of the season, winning seven in a row and 17 of 24 over one stretch, then slumped a bit at the end. With a chance to clinch a postseason spot, they lost 6-1 at home to Edmonton on Friday.

Minnesota finally secured its first playoff appearance in five years when Niklas Backstrom stopped 29 shots in a 3-1 win at Colorado on Saturday night.

"I think we expected ourselves to be in the playoffs, and I don't think you're going to find a lot of guys who are relaxing now and exhaling and just being satisfied that we're here," Parise said. "We want to win. We're not just happy that we made it. We want to keep playing, and we think that we're capable of it."

The Wild could get a boost in Game 1 from the return of Jason Pominville, who missed the last two games after taking an elbow to the chin against the Los Angeles Kings. The right wing practiced on Monday, but coach Mike Yeo was tight-lipped about his status for the opener at Chicago.