CRAWFORD FINDS HIS FORM, STOPS 42 SHOTS IN WIN
Gets back in the groove on night Belfour honored
On a night when the Blackhawks honored Hall of Fame goalie Eddie Belfour with “One Last Shift,” Corey Crawford provided the most fitting tribute. He responded after a tough game against the Canucks with a standout performance in a 3- 2 shootout victory over the Stars on Thursday night at the United Center.
Two nights after he allowed four goals on 10 shots against the Canucks, Crawford bounced back with 42 saves, then capped the victory by stopping Jamie Benn and Ales Hemsky — he burned Crawford with two goals in regulation — on back- to- back shootout attempts.
The Hawks were outshot 4426 yet won for the 18th time in 22 games ( 18- 3- 1).
“He was outstanding. He was the reason we won tonight,” said Patrick Kane, who scored his 33rd goal of the season in the first period and added a clutch shootout goal.
Crawford was a reluctant hero. He was not available for comment after the game. But his coaches and teammates appreciated the performance.
“Real good response,” said coach Joel Quenneville, whose team was outshot in every period — 13- 7, 147, 11- 9 and 6- 3. “Not many positives tonight, but that certainly was one of them.”
Marian Hossa scored for the second consecutive game after missing two games with an injury.
With the win, the Hawks ( 48- 206, 102 points) moved eight points ahead of the Wild ( 44- 23- 6, 94) in the Central Division.
Crawford was strong throughout, but made his biggest saves toward the end. After Hemsky tied the game 2- 2 with a wide- open tapin of a rebound with 5: 09 left in regulation, Crawford stopped Brett Ritchie on a mini- breakaway with 4: 24 to play. He also stopped Remi Elie on a breakaway and denied the Stars on a three- shot flurry in overtime to keep the Hawks in it.
“We didn’t have the best game, and Crow was strong for us,” Hossa said. “Definitely he made some huge saves, especially in the shootout.”
The game featured a surprising fight between rookie Ryan Hartman and Stars veteran defenseman Dan Hamhuis in the second period. Hartman actually got the best of Hamhuis, but the Stars tied the game 1- 1 on Hemsky’s first goal just 40 seconds after both players went to the penalty box.
The Hawks have a stranglehold on the division lead and are keeping an eye on the President’s trophy. They trail the Capitals ( 104 points) by two points and are tied with the Penguins ( 102).
But after struggling to get five points out of three consecutive games against the Avalanche, Ca- nucks and Stars, the Hawks are mostly concerned with regaining the form that started this streak in February and early March.
“Division is what we’re concentrating on. We’ll see what happens outside of that,” Quenneville said. “We’ve had a fortunate point number in this home stand. But our concern is, let’s get our play back to that pace we had for a big stretch.”
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