Corey Crawford, Blackhawks Shut Out Blue Jackets
Corey Crawford returned to the ice and stopped all 28 shots he faced on Sunday night as the Blackhawks shutout the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0 at the United Center.
The only goal of the night came from Andrew Shaw late in the second period off a pretty dish from Bryan Bickell. Shaw also led the way with four hits in the game, won four of his six faceoffs, and took a cheap shot to the crotch from James Wisniewski in the third period.
Bickell contributed three hits with with the assist.
Interestingly, Chicago’s ice time was evenly spread out on the blue line once again but coach Joel Quenneville really relied on his top six forwards in the game. All six of the Hawks’ defensemen were between 17:02 (Michal Rozsival) and 22:53 (Duncan Keith), but Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews were all over 20 minutes in the game.
Meanwhile, Jamal Mayers and Daniel Carcillo skated in eight and nine shifts, respectively, and Bickell skated only 8:49 in the game.
Chicago killed five penalties in the game.
Niklas Hjalmarsson blocked six shots to lead Chicago, and Rozsival had two hits and three blocked shots as well. Marian Hossa was credited with four takeaways while Kane was credited with three. Skating in Dave Bolland’s place on the second line, Marcus Kruger won seven of 16 faceoffs and was also credited with three takeaways in the game.
For Columbus, Steve Mason was very good in net. He stopped 26 of 27 shots in the game.
Not much to say here…good goaltending at both ends…Hossa was very good tonight, and should have had some points to show for it…Shaw was very good again, as were Frolik and Kruger…
Thing that hurts the Hawks when Bolland is out of the lineup is that Q does not have confidence in the 4th line without Kruger, thus their ice time shrinks, and the top 6 have to play some serious minutes, and the Hawks are never as good when they don’t roll 4 lines…you would think that Q would understand this by now…if Mayers is an NHL centre and on the roster, then he is good enough to play regular shifts…
Agree with Brad.
Another point that’s obvious to all…the PP continues to flounder; they had better find it else this will be a problem down the line when it counts against better competition.
The game followed the expected script tonight. Columbus worked hard and gummed up the ice and the Hawks didn’t have the extra oomph against a lowly opponent, so you get a 60 minute taffy pull that saw a combination of good goal tending and shanked shots.
Crawford looked pretty good and he’ll gladly accept a couple lucky breaks where a BJ player couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn let alone a puny 4×6 hockey net.
And I would be remiss to not mention the ice at the UC – it is a disgrace that an original 6 team can’t find a way to have NHL caliber ice. The puck is bouncing all over the place and it is a disadvantage to highly skilled teams – like the Hawks. I realize there are multiple events held at the UC, including 40 or 50 Bulls games, but other NHL clubs have the same multi-purpose arenas and they don’t have this problem. Hey – Mr. PR Man – yeah you McDonough, take a couple days off marketing yourself and the Hawks and do something to improve the ice.
Maybe your ice time shrinks when Kruger isn’t your center or maybe your ice time shrinks when your team takes 5 penalties and you don’t play special teams.
I agree, the UC ice is horrible and it’s affecting the scoring touch.
Ugly win in an ugly game. I’m glad to see that the Hawks can adjust their style and win a scrappy game like this.
Agree, Hawks are much better rolling all 4 lines. They will need energy tonight as they face an Oilers team that is just as fast as the Hawks…….I hope Kane, Sharp and Toews slept well last night.
Go Hawks
It will be an interesting game tonite.
Hawks were outplayed and were slower than this team last year…
I don’t want the excuse of playing last nite…
I will be looking to see if the Hawks can keep this team at 3 goals or less… and limit odd man rushes-
Even if they lose 3-2- it will be somewhat of a victory when compared to the beatings we took last year!!!
They are do for a let down eventually, right?
Shaw seems to finish so many of the scoring chances he gets. It’s unbelieavable especailly when you compare him to a Saad or a Frolik who seem to always be in position to score but just can’t bury it. If he can keep doing what he is doing and stop with the stupid/dangerous hits, he’ll have a long promising career.
Excited to see another Wisniewski suspension. What a turd he is.
I’m curious to see how the Hawks come out and play the Oilers tonight. The Hawks got embarrassed last time out in Edmonton, although they did play them good at home. So im very curious to see this game. No doubt the Hawks looked a step slow last night and didnt have their A game. The Hawks will need their A game as long as their “streaking” because everyteam is going to give the Hawks their best shot. A bottom of the pack team with tons of talent like Edmonton is a very tough opponent. Go Hawks!
I agree Wall…no excuses about playing last night…we are playing at home, with the best record in recent NHL history and to a team that spanked the Hawks for the last 2 years…tonight is REVENGE! Or at least should be.
EbonyRaptor made an excellent point concerning the ice quality at the UC. It has been bad now for a few years, but seems to be getting worse. Slow ice does not help a team like the Hawks. Edmonton on the other hand has very good ice so we will see how they cope with the slush at the UC tonight. At least we are used to it. Can anything be done to improve the ice without tearing out the present system? With Spring around the corner ice quality can only get worse as the outside weather warms. Let’s Go Hawks!
@ McKay is correct
Frolik and Mayers were over two mins below their even strength average
Shaw and Bickell were 2.5 mins below is even strength average
Stalberg was 3.5 mins below is even strength average
Because, Hawk forwards average a little under 6 min a game on the PK and last night was 10 mins (mitigating that a bit was the fact that the Hawks had about a min less PK than their average). Quite simply, the loss in even strength minutes came out of the 3rd and 4th lines share. BUT, that doesn’t mean its OK, especially on the front end of a back to back (although it was a close game and perhaps Q was thinking that tonight might not be).
You try to win the battle you’re in today, tomorrow gets lower priority. I have no problem with Q player the top players more last night while trying to preserve a 1-0 lead and get the 2 points. If that means the top players don’t have as much gas in the tank for the game tonight – so be it. The old adage “one in the hand is worth two in the bush”.
That said, tired play often results in more penalties against and the Oilers have a very potent power play so hopefully it was more a lack of focus last night than fatigue.