Tag Archives: Corey Crawford

Blackhawks back on top

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184164326_slideThe Blackhawks closed out their annual 7-game “circus trip” by reeling off six straight victories to vault themselves back to the top of the NHL standings. Their lone loss on the trip came in their first game in Colorado. While winning six straight games is impressive on its own, winning six straight games on the road, all against Western Conference teams is even more impressive. To put into perspective how good the West is this year, the East-leading Bruins would be tied for fifth in the West. The current last place wild card team in the West, Phoenix (34 points), has more points than four Eastern Conference teams who are currently in a playoff spot. Many people believed that this road trip would say a lot about the Blackhawks and the type of team that they are this season. Well, now that the road trip is over with, I think it’s safe to say we know what type of team we’re dealing with here.

Not many teams can do what the Blackhawks just did. After losing badly in Colorado to start the 7-game road trip, the Hawks beat Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Dallas, and Phoenix in that order. Three of those victories were third period comeback wins in which the Hawks entered the third trailing in the game. Yet they still found a way to come out on top each time.

Some NHL analysts are beginning to say that the Blackhawks may be better than they were last season. I’m not sure that I agree or disagree with that belief, but I can see where 1306350614they are coming from. Virtually everyone on the team now has a Stanley Cup ring, with the exception of Brandon Pirri and Antti Raanta. The addition of Kris Versteeg just a few weeks back improved the depth of the Blackhawks in a strong way. Duncan Keith is playing better right now than he ever has in his career, including 2010 when he won the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman. Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya continue to get better, and Hjalmarsson is becoming one of the top defensive defensemen in the game. The fourth line, while it may not be as skilled as it was a year ago, is beginning to develop some great chemistry and was arguably the team’s best line (given their level of talent) over the last 4 games of the road trip. Also, keep in mind that Bryan Bickell missed the last six games due to injury and won’t return yet for a few weeks. His presence back in the lineup will only help the Hawks.

The Blackhawks, who spent practically every second of last season leading the league in points, are back in that same position. They currently sit atop the NHL in points with 44, three ahead of the San Jose Sharks who have played two fewer games than the Hawks. In fact, the Blackhawks are actually on the same pace as they were last season in terms of points had they played the full 82 games. December will be a very telling month for the Blackhawks as this may very well be the toughest stretch of their schedule. They have to play Dallas twice, L.A. twice, and Minnesota, Anaheim, Philadelphia, Toronto, Vancouver, Colorado, and St. Louis once. I left out a couple games, but the ones just mentioned are the most notable games of the month. If the Hawks can come out of December still sitting in one of the top two spots in the West, that will be quite the statement.

Looking ahead, I see no reason why the Blackhawks can’t finish first in the NHL and win the President’s Trophy again. This is the best team in hockey, and they are, believe it or not, more motivated than ever to win the Stanley Cup. They know what’s at stake if they can win the Cup in consecutive seasons, and they will do everything they can to make that happen.

I like what Corey Crawford said in an interview just a few days back. He was asked by Bob Verdi (Blackhawks historian), “Do you like the idea that, after earning two Stanley Cups in four years, the Blackhawks have a target on their backs?” His answer? “I like the fact that when we are champions, other teams bring their game up and try to beat us. That makes us better.” That’s the right mindset to have.

 

Another one goal game for the Blackhawks

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Banner-Raising-2013-1600So far, the Blackhawks have played six games this season. After last night’s 3-2 shootout win over the Hurricanes, five of those six games have have been decided by just one goal. Against the Lightning and Blues, the Hawks lost by one goal. When they played the Islanders, Sabres, and now Hurricanes, the Hawks won by one goal. It is a theme that I would like to see come to an end, and I am sure the Blackhawks feel the same way. When games are won by just one goal, that means the other team had a good shot at winning the game as well.

The Blackhawks got off to a great start in the first period against the Hurricanes. Goals by Sharp and Hossa put the Hawks up 2-0 with just under half the period left to play. The period would end 2-0 in favor of the Blackhawks, but the Hawks were able to get 15 shots on goal in the first compared to just 5 for the Canes. It looked as though this would be a runaway victory for the Blackhawks because of how dominant they were during the first 20 minutes of play. Then the second period came.

In the second, you could easily argue that Carolina was the better team. They totaled 13 shots on goal, while the Hawks had 8. Corey Crawford came up with a number of good saves, and the period ended still 2-0.

Then in the third period, there is no question that the Hurricanes were the much better team. They registered 2 goals on 10 shots in the period to tie the game and send it to overtime.

In OT, Bryan Bickell took a hooking penalty to send the Hurricanes on a two-minute powerplay. The Blackhawks penalty kill, which has been looking better and better, came up huge and killed off the penalty. Some key shot-blocks by the Blackhawks and big saves by Crawford kept the Hurricanes from scoring and sent the game to a shootout.

In the shootout, Patrick Sharp was the only player on either team to score, and the Blackhawks walked away with the extra point.

Here’s what I saw in last night’s game:

  • The Blackhawks got off to another really good start in the game, as they have almost every game this season, but were never able to score that big third goal to go up 3-0. This has been the issue in four of the Hawks’ six games now, and they need to find a way to get that important put-away goal before letting the opposition back into the game like they did last night. A two-goal lead is a very dangerous lead to have in a game because teams start to let off the gas peddle a bit, when really they should be doing everything they can to get the three-goal lead. All of a sudden when you’re up by two, the other team scores to get within one and then they’ve got all the momentum and end up tying the game.
  • mount-kilimanjaro-locationofficial-address-and-locations-kilimanjaro-climbing-expeditions-rbhlatxdCorey Crawford was really good again for the Blackhawks. You could call last night’s win a “goalie win.”
  • The pairing of Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya is becoming one of the best number two pairings in the game. Right now, Quenneville is using them as his number one pairing until Keith and Seabrook can figure out how to defend again. Hammer and Oduya look to be locks on the Swedish Olympic team.
  • Bryan Bickell is back to being the Bickell we all knew until last year’s playoffs. I think it’s time to accept the fact that he is a playoff performer, and until then, expect him to be a third liner on this team.
  • Michal Handzus continues to be one of the slowest guys on the ice. That isn’t going to change. Brandon Pirri was scratched last night, and I want to see him in the lineup more and more moving forward until he takes over Handzus’ spot. He can be really valuable on this team if he gets enough playing time.

I am not going to get too worked up over the Blackhawks’ inability to put teams away so far this season. Odds are, they’ll start scoring the big third and fourth goals with the talent and skill that they have in their lineup. It seems inevitable to me.

Tomorrow night is another big showdown with the Blues, this time at the United Center. All I can say is thank God Maxim Lapierre won’t be in St. Louis’ lineup. After the hit he put on Dan Boyle last night, he should be suspended for at least the next 20 games. The problem with the Blues is they have a number of guys who aren’t afraid to risk being suspended in order to make an illegal hit. They’re full of losers like that.

Blackhawks pass big test in St. Louis

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166605874_slideMost people knew that today’s game between the Blues and Blackhawks was going to be a good one, and was it ever. For the Blackhawks, this was a big test for them to see if they could handle playoff-like toughness from a tough team. As for the Blues, they came into today’s game needing every point they could get as they continue their push for the playoffs.

The first period was very much like a playoff game. Right off the bat, the Blues were running around trying to hit any player in a red jersey into the third row through the glass. The Blackhawks on the other hand, didn’t hand out many hits. It’s just not in their DNA. They demonstrated most of their physicality after the whistle. Games between these two teams are always physical, but the first period today took physicality to a new level. In the end, no goals were scored through the first 20 minutes.

Early in the second period, Bryan Bickell put the Hawks in front 1-0 with a goal off of his own rebound. This was a huge goal because it put St. Louis on their heels and gave the Blackhawks the momentum. From that point on, the Blues became much less physical and allowed the Hawks to start controlling more of the play.

The rest of the second period remained scoreless, and the Blackhawks took their 1-0 lead into the third.

About six and a half minutes into the third and on the penalty kill, Marian Hossa took a one-time slap shot off the faceoff to beat Brian Elliot and make it a 2-0 game. This appeared to be a set play as Hossa was lined up right behind Toews for the faceoff.

The Blackhawks and Corey Crawford were able to hold off the Blues the rest of the way and won the game 2-0. This was the Blackhawks’ NHL-leading 7th shutout of the season (they were the only team to not record a shutout last year).

Today’s game proved to me that the Blackhawks are ready for the playoffs. I was very anxious to see how they would respond the St. Louis’ physical play, and they responded just the way I wanted them to. All year long, I have been saying that this team is not big enough, not tough enough, and too small. Today, the Blackhawks made me eat my words, and I couldn’t be happier.

Rather than laying down and caving in during the Blues’ physical onslaught in the first period, the Blackhawks stuck to their game plan, weathered the storm, and didn’t back down.

Their team defense lately, and especially today, has been fantastic. They are getting back to playing the way that they did during their big streak to begin the season. It is performances like today that prove why the Hawks have allowed the fewest goals in the NHL, and it is performances like today that really help their goaltenders get into a zone, which is what they’ll need in the playoffs.

The powerplay for the Hawks has turned into a disaster, ranking 21st in the NHL. A team with that much talent should not be that bad with the man advantage. The penalty kill, however, has really helped make up for the lack of success on the powerplay.

The Blackhawks are ranked 5th in the league on the PK, which will become an even bigger stat come playoff time. If you are not scoring powerplay goals in the playoffs, then you better not let up many either. If you look at the fact that the Hawks have allowed the fewest goals in the league and have the 5th best PK in the league, you can’t help but feel confident about their chances in the playoffs, regardless of their powerplay numbers. Remember, “defense wins championships.”

As for the goalie situation with the Blackhawks, Joel Quenneville has a good problem on 166605886_slidehis hands. Both Emery and Crawford are playing great right now, much like they have all year. I was a little critical of Crawford in an earlier post (and I still stand by what I said there), but he is really playing well right now and making a strong case as to why he should be the starting goalie in the playoffs. Deep down, I think it will end up being Crawford that gets the nod for the playoffs. Having said that, he might have a short leash.

We’re down to just 7 games remaining on  the Blackhawks’ schedule, and it would appear that they’ll take first place in the West, and possibly the NHL. The playoffs can’t come soon enough.

Crawford or Emery for the playoffs?

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2012-2-29-Crawford-and-EmeryIt is getting to that point in the season now where people are starting to wonder who will be starting in goal for the Blackhawks come playoff time. Unlike most teams, the Blackhawks have two goalies who could start in net during the playoffs: Corey Crawford and Ray Emery. Both have comparable statistics this season, but only one can be named the starter.

Corey Crawford is 15-4-4 on the season, while Emery is 13-1-0. Emery ranks fourth in the NHL in lowest goals against average, and Crawford is fifth. In terms of save percentage, Ray Emery is tenth in the league while Crawford is eleventh. Other than their records, these two goalies are very similar in terms of their statistics.

Lately, Crawford has been in a bit of a rut. He has allowed 14 goals in his last 5 games 215px-Coreycrawfordplayed and has gone 2-2-1 over that stretch. While he started off the season playing with a ton of confidence (which showed in his play), he seems to have lost some of that confidence over the last few weeks or so. A good example of that came against the Predators last Monday night when Crawford let in two goals in a row that should have never ended up in the back of the net. It reminded me a lot of the bad goals he allowed in overtime of last year’s playoffs against the Coyotes.

I think that my main point here is that Crawford, while he can have some very good stretches of play, is too weak mentally. If he is named the starting goaltender for the playoffs, all it might take is one bad goal against or one loss to really mess with his confidence. Ray Emery on the other hand, is a little different.

When you look at Emery’s stats this year, there is no reason why he shouldn’t be the number one goalie for the playoffs. I mean heck, he’s only lost one game this year! His Ray+Emery+Closeupgoals against average is a mere 1.95, and his save percentage is .923. Those are very respectable numbers. Even though Corey Crawford does have playoff experience, and even though he did have a good series against Vancouver two years ago, Ray Emery not only has more experience, but he led the Senators to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007. Come playoff time, experience is huge.

Even though Emery did not win the Stanley Cup in 2007, he still got there as the starting goalie in Ottawa. That experience cannot be overrated. Having played on the highest stage in the NHL, Emery knows what it takes and what it is like to get to the Cup Finals.

After saying all of that about each goalie, if I were Joel Quenneville and the playoffs started tomorrow, Ray Emery would be my starting goaltender. There is still time remaining in the regular season for Crawford to prove that he deserves another chance at leading the Hawks through the postseason, but he is really going to have to step up his game physically and mentally to do so in my eyes.

I am very interested to see how this all plays out over the last few weeks of the season. Emery shut out the Predators yesterday and those two teams square off again in 2 hours. No announcement yet as to who will start in goal tonight for the Hawks, but if it is Emery, that might be a sign on things to come.

Stay tuned.

Blackhawks beat Wings in a shootout

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163018073_slideToday’s game between the Blackhawks and Red Wings was as close to a playoff game as you will find during the regular season. Quick-paced and physical play, incredible goaltending, and low scoring. That is the best way to describe the playoffs, and that is exactly how today’s game was played.

If the Detroit-Chicago rivalry wasn’t a good enough reason for the Red Wings to want to win this game, then the fact that the Hawks hadn’t lost in regulation yet this season should have done the trick. Based on the way the Wings played, you could tell they wanted this one badly.

The fist period was pretty much dominated by the Blackhawks. Much of the period was spent in the Detroit end as the Hawks peppered Jimmy Howard with 9 shots on goal. Howard stopped all 9 and seemed to set the tone for the rest of the game. Detroit was able to get off just 3 shots through the first 20 minutes of action, and like Howard, Corey Crawford had an answer for all 3.

163012908_slideThe second period was a much more intense period than its predecessor. Both teams were putting a ton of pressure on each other at both ends of the ice and generated multiple Grade-A scoring chances. Jimmy Howard and Corey Crawford, however, played like brick walls and came up with huge save after huge save. It almost seemed as though they had a personal battle going between one another to see who could come up with the biggest, best saves. After two periods, the game remained scoreless, but the shot totals grew to 21-18 in favor of the Hawks.

The third period was filled with just as much intensity as the second. Just 2:43 into the third, Tomas Tatar beat Crawford with a one-timer that was setup beautifully by Joakim Andersson from behind the net. It was at this time that it appeared as though the Hawks’ streak may be coming to an end.

As the third period moved along, both sides continued to get decent scoring chances, but both goalies kept on making the big saves. There must have been more highlight-reel saves in this game than every game from Saturday night (9 games) combined.

Then with 2:25 remaining in the third, Jonathan Ericsson was given a 2-minute delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass from inside the Wings’ defensive zone. On the ensuing Blackhawks’ powerplay, after Patrick Sharp’s slap shot from the point was blocked in front of the net, the puck dropped to the ice and Viktor Stalberg was able to backhand a pass to Patrick Kane. Kane, all in one motion, caught the pass and let go of a wicked wrister that beat Jimmy Howard over his left shoulder to tie the game. Stalberg’s pass was a thing of beauty and couldn’t have been more perfectly placed. After Kane’s goal, there was just 2:02 remaining on the clock.

In the dying moments of the game, Johan Franzen backhanded a shot that beat Corey Crawford and hit off the post. That would have been an incredible turnaround in the game had that puck gone in. Then with 1:23 left in the game, Niklas Kronwall was hit with a delay of game penalty for also shooting the puck out of play from his own defensive zone.

The Wings would keep the Hawks from scoring in regulation and the game headed to overtime.

In overtime, Detroit killed off the rest of Kronwall’s penalty to put both teams at even strength. As was the case throughout all of regulation, each goalie (Crawford especially) came up with some big time saves to keep their teams alive. No goals would be scored and a shootout was on the way.

After Datsyuk, Toews, and Brunner were all denied on their shootout attempts (three of the best players in the NHL at shootouts), Patrick Kane pulled out another incredible move from his bag of tricks to beat Howard and put the Hawks in front.

Henrik Zetterberg was Detroit’s last hope to extend the shootout, and Corey Crawford denied his attempt to win the game for the Blackhawks.

This was by far one of the best regular season games I have seen in recent years. A couple of the Hawks’ other top regular season games that I can remember off hand both involved the Red Wings and Joe Louis Arena (all three were ironically on NBC and day games).

If there was ever a game that the Hawks were going to lose to end their incredible points streak, this was it. Detroit gave them all they could handle. Corey Crawford played possibly his best game ever today and personally won them the game. Yes, Kane came up with the big 2 goals, but Crawford made a countless number of major saves on great scoring chances from Detroit.

The Blackhawks are playing with a never-die attitude this year. Regardless of any adversity that they have faced, the Hawks have overcome it and found a way to get at least one point. Today was a perfect example of this. They found themselves trailing late in the game in a hostile environment and could have easily crawled up into a ball and let the Wings walk all over them. But they didn’t. They shook off Tatar’s goal and never gave up.

I said in my last blog that if the Hawks were to lose any of their upcoming games, this one would have been it. Now that they have avoided doing just that, I give up on trying to predict when they’ll lose. If they take a night off and don’t give everything they’ve got, that is when they will lose. Every team they play is going to bring their best effort to try and end this streak, so the Hawks need to be on their toes night in and night out.

My three stars of today’s game for the Blackhawks would have to be 1) Corey Crawford 2) Patrick Kane 3) Brandon Saad. Saad had 5 shots on goal.

Side notes: This was Marian Hossa’s 1,000th career game……….The Blackhawks’ streak of not losing in regulation is now up to  28 games dating back to last season.

 

The Streak is still alive

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162944136_slideWe are almost half way through the NHL season as the Blackhawks have played 21 games, and they still have yet to lose a game in regulation. The previous record of 16 straight games to open a season with a point held by the ’06-’07 Ducks is long gone, and the Blackhawks are showing no signs of slowing down.

There really isn’t a lot left to say about this team that hasn’t already been said during this incredible streak. To make it short and sweet, the Blackhawks are the best team in hockey right now, and the hottest team in professional sports. They are winning the games that they should win, they are winning the close games, and now they are winning the games that they really shouldn’t be winning.

Last night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the worst team in the NHL, was one of the worst game the Hawks have played this year. Sure you can blame it on the fact that the Hawks played the night before in St. Louis, but the fact of the matter is that the lowly Blue Jackets almost ended the Hawks streak at 20 games. Yet, the Blackhawks still prevailed in overtime and have now gone 21 straight games to start the season without a regulation loss. In fact, if you go back to last season the Hawks have now gone 26 straight regular season games with at least a point. That’s good for third all time.

In order to win a lot of games in a season, you need your top players to produce. In order to go on a streak like the Blackhawks are on and in order to win a Stanley Cup, you need production from top to bottom in your lineup. The Blackhawks are getting both. Their top players such as Toews, Kane, Hossa, and Sharp are all producing offensively, but so are their third and fourth line guys. Over the past 2-3 games, the Blackhawks best line has arguably been their third line of Bryan Bickell, Andrew Shaw, and Viktor Stalberg. All three players are creating chances and sustaining pressure on the opposition, and all three are scoring goals. Last night both Stalberg and Bickell recorded goals, Thursday night Shaw had a goal, and last Sunday night it was Shaw who had the lone goal in the Hawks’ 1-0 victory over the Blue Jackets. It’s not just the top two lines of this team that are beating their opponents, and that is what makes the Blackhawks so hard to play against.

162777149_slideThe biggest question mark coming into this season was their goaltending. Now, that might be the most consistent part of this team. Night in and night out, whether it is Crawford or Emery in the net, the goaltending has been great. Both players are tied for the third most wins this year (9), Crawford is first in goals-against average, and both are in the top 10 for save percentage (Crawford ranks second). What more could you possibly ask for from your goalies? Even when Ray Emery was supposed to have the night off against St. Louis on Thursday, he came into the game in relief of an injured Crawford and shut out the Blues for the final 2 periods (the two goalies combined for a shutout that night).

Going along the lines of great goaltending is this team’s great defense. The Hawks are first in fewest goals-against per game, and rank second on the penalty kill. This is thanks in large part to the improved play of Keith, Hjalmarsson, Oduya, and Leddy. If you look back at the recent Stanley Cup winners, every one of them has been near the top of the league in goals-against per game. Last year, the Kings ranked second, in ’10-’11 the Bruins ranked second, and in ’09-’10 the Blackhawks were sixth. It’s not always about how much you score, but how rarely you get scored on, and the L.A. Kings of last year are the perfect example of that. They ranked 17th in goals scored per game during the regular season.

A lot of people, myself included, thought that the Blackhawks’ streak was going to end this past Thursday in St. Louis. Jonathan Toews and the rest of that first line put an end to that prediction just 12 seconds into the game. Looking forward, their toughest upcoming game has to be tomorrow afternoon in Detroit. The Wings and Hawks always play close games against each other, and I would expect nothing different tomorrow. If the Hawks win that one, then I really have no idea how long this streak could last. It’s kind of scary to think about (in a good way).

Updated Oduya Stat: The Blackhawks are now 30-2-7 with Johnny Oduya in the lineup since getting him at last year’s trade deadline.