With Corey Crawford playing so well on the circus trip, coach Joel Quenneville gave him the start last night and even supposed starter Marty Turco said that Crawford had earned the chance.
Crawford made 21 saves, but gave up five goals. One of them wasn’t his fault — it appeared to deflect off a Blackhawks player — and he was screened on a couple of others.
Fortunately for the Hawks, the five goals Crawford allowed didn’t matter, because the Blackhawks opened up with one of their biggest scoring binges of the year. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews scored two goals each and Tomas Kopecky had a goal and three assists for a four-point night. In addition, rookie Jeremy Morin, just recalled from Rockford after Marian Hossa was injured during practice on Monday, registered his first NHL point. Morin also got into a fight with the Blues’ Chris Porter; supposedly, there’s some history between those two. There were a couple of other fights during the game.
Nevertheless, the important thing is that the Hawks have now won three in a row and six of their last eight and seem to be on a roll. The offensive outburst without Hossa in the lineup is a good sign. They’ll host the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.