No Toews? Not a problem
Detroit misses leading scorer Datsyuk
CHICAGO — Corey Crawford and the Chicago Blackhawks did just fine without captain Jonathan Toews on Tuesday night.
The Detroit Red Wings had a much more difficult time without star centre Pavel Datsyuk.
Crawford made 31 saves and the Blackhawks beat the Red Wings 2-1 in a matchup of depleted Central Division rivals.
“Corey was rock solid,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. “He was big, strong [and] controlled rebounds. They put a lot of bodies in traffic at the net. They test you on almost every shift. I thought he was excellent.”
Jimmy Hayes scored the tying goal in the second period and set up Marcus Kruger’s winning score in the third as Chicago earned its fourth consecutive victory since a nine-game losing streak.
“We stayed patient all game,” Kruger said. “Even down one goal, we stuck with our plan and found a way to win.”
Valtteri Filppula scored for Nhlleading Detroit, which had won six in a row. Jimmy Howard had 27 stops in his first action since being sidelined for two-plus weeks with a broken right index finger.
“I thought we played about 10 good minutes to start the game, and then I thought we were careless with the puck and made poor mental decisions,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said.
“I didn’t think we gave ourself much of chance.”
While Howard was back in the net for the first time since Feb. 2 at Vancouver, the Red Wings were without leading scorer Datsyuk. The dynamic centre had arthroscopic surgery Tuesday to remove fragments from his right knee and is expected to be sidelined for two weeks.
Datsyuk leads the Red Wings with 43 assists and 59 points, playing a key role in Detroit’s record 23-game home winning streak. The Red Wings host Vancouver on Thursday.
“Pav’s been out before and he’s a huge part of our team, but we’re going to need guys to step up,” Howard said. “This is an opportunity for other guys now to play in a role maybe they’re not used to playing in, maybe getting some more ice time, and they’re going to find a way to get it done for us.”
Chicago was missing Toews, who was scratched with an upper-body injury and is day to day.
“In 82 games, you’re going to play without some players on any given night,” forward Patrick Sharp said. “Losing him was big, but we rallied around each other and all stepped up.”