The three words in the headline tell pretty much the whole story of the Blackhawks’ 7-5 loss to the Avalanche in Denver Monday night, but here’s a bit more, if you can stand it.
First, the Hawks have to figure out the Marty Turco situation. Signed at a modest cost to replace the salary cap-departed Antti Niemi, Turco has been… mediocre at best, horrific at worst. He saw 10 shots last night and let four goals in. That’s bad. No, that’s awful. He was pulled in the second period before a lot of fans had returned from the restroom at the first intermission.
Corey Crawford was better… for a while. The Hawks led 5-4 with 8:17 left, but the Avs scored twice on him in the final 2:24 of the game and added an empty-netter.
Crawford’s likely going to start Wednesday when these two teams have a rematch in Chicago. But will it be enough with the Hawks having so many injuries? The good news is that the injured Marian Hossa and Fernando Pisani skated on Monday and could return soon. Coach Joel Quenneville hopes Patrick Kane, who has an ankle injury, will skate on Wednesday.