After 58 games, it all comes down to this.

The Central Division of the North American Hockey League is about as close as it can get. Austin has clinched the title, but the other five teams, including the Aberdeen Wings, are all still alive in the push for the playoffs with just two regular-season games remaining.

“No one is doing anybody any favors that’s for sure,” said Wings coach Scott Langer of the teams battling for those available playoff berths. ” If you get there it’s going to be earned. I’ve never seen it where you can finish as high as second or as low as fifth or sixth.”

St. Cloud, the Wings’ opponent this weekend, is currently in second with 65 points. Minot, North Iowa and Aberdeen are all tied with 62 points, and Bismarck is sitting at 60 points.

Top four squads make it into the post season. While the Wings defeated St. Cloud twice last weekend, Minot also won twice while North Iowa and Bismarck split. That means Aberdeen does not have much margin for error heading into the final two games.

“With the other teams winning that are in the same fight, it’s forced us into a must-win every night situation,” Langer said.

The Wings did their part last weekend with a pair of wins over St. Cloud and still control their own destiny if they can win two more at home on Friday and Saturday.

“That’s the nice part about it. If you win, you’re in, but we just have to play good hockey,” Langer said. “Hopefully, use the momentum we had off last weekend’s series and get the goal tending that we got, and hopefully find a way to beat St. Cloud.”

Aberdeen goalie Cole Moore came up clutch in a pair of victories over the Norsemen last weekend, allowing just two goals in two games with 73 saves.

“Cole was really good. He was up for the challenge and he stood tall,” Langer said. “He kept us in it when they pushed really hard against us. They came out really hard on Saturday night and Cole gave us an opportunity to settle in and we did, and we scored the first goal.”

The Wings will benefit from having the home-ice advantage this weekend. While that should help, Langer said the players still need to come out and take care of business.

“You hope that our fans come out and get behind us. We like playing in front of our home fans,” Langer said. “Obviously, they do such a great job with getting our backs when we need it, but it has to come out of the locker room. Each guy just has to be willing to fight and figure out a way to get the points.”

While there are various tiebreakers that could come into play before all is settled this weekend, Langer said he does not pay attention to how all of that might play out.

“I haven’t looked at the standings in 10 years,” Langer said.

The fact of the matter is, if the Wings win their last two games, it really doesn’t matter much what other teams do.

“It gives us an opportunity to control what we can control and not have to worry about what other teams are doing in the background,” Langer said. “There’s just focus on what we can do.”

Langer knows the task at hand. His team is coming off two key victories over St. Cloud and will likely need back-to-back wins again at the Odde Ice Center on Friday and Saturday nights.

“It’s hard to beat a team multiple times, especially in this division. St. Cloud is probably the top team in this division right now, the way that they’re playing,” Langer said. “It’s going to take a big effort. They’re a really well-coached team. They have good players at all their positions and they play extremely fast.”

If the Wings are able to get into the postseason, there is no doubt that they will be ready to go.

“When you play in these type of Game 7 scenarios in the regular season,” Langer said, “it’s battle testing you if you do get in.”