Blackhawks turning things around

Maybe the Blackhawks finally have something going here.

Instead of letting down Sunday night after Friday's impressive win over Detroit, the Hawks turned in a second straight solid performance and beat another good team.

The Hawks built a 3-1 lead then held on in the third period behind rookie goalie Corey Crawford to turn back the Kings 3-2 at the United Center.

“We'll take it,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “This was a tough game. Two of their last three games on the road they won by 5, so we knew we had a dangerous opponent that's playing well.

“We did what we had to do here, but I don't think we want to get too excited. It's something to build off of, but I don't think we're in a position to feel good about ourselves yet.”

There's certainly every reason to feel good about Crawford, who has grabbed the No. 1 job by the throat, winning nine of his last 12 decisions. Crawford made 26 saves and was at his best in the third period when the Kings outshot the Hawks 11-4.

“I thought we kept them mostly to the outside,” Crawford said. “I don't remember one time when they had a quality shot from the slot; it was a lot of point shots and shots from the side.

“Our guys played really well again and got that garbage away from in front of the net, and as a goaltender that makes it so much easier.”

The Hawks felt good about themselves coming out of the 4-1 win over Detroit and rode that momentum.

“We want to keep it going,” Crawford said. “We had good feelings and guys were ready to go again tonight and it showed. I thought we were solid again.”

The Hawks took a 3-1 lead to the third period on goals by Jonathan Toews (his 15th), Duncan Keith and Fernando Pisani.

Keith's goal, his second in 22 games, was big in that it came 25 seconds after the Kings' Kyle Clifford tied the game at 1-1 just 1:34 into the second period.

“Huge goal right off the bat,” Quenneville said. “Nice play by (Patrick) Sharpie on the entry, and nice shot.”

Keith beat goalie Jonathan Quick with a slap shot from the left point with Troy Brouwer parked in front.

“We talk about it a lot, shifts after goals, whether it's one of their goals or one of ours,” Keith said. “They're always big shifts, and it was nice to get that one.”

Brouwer was in a similar spot on Toews' goal at 11:30 of the first period. The goal came after a strong shift forechecking by the line of Toews, Brouwer and Sharp.

The Kings pulled within 3-2 on Wayne Simmonds' power-play goal 1:20 into the third period, but Crawford stood tall the rest of the way.

“That win over Detroit was huge for our confidence,” Toews said. “It just shows what we can do as a team when we play the right way. If we have that commitment, we'll be just fine.”

The Hawks were short-handed just once after taking no penalties against Detroit.

“Certainly staying out of the box is something we've been emphasizing,” Quenneville said.

Tim Sassone's game tracker

<b>Three stars</b>

<b>1. Jonathan Toews, Hawks:</b> So solid, as usual, with a goal, assist, 3 take-aways and a plus-2.

<b>2. Duncan Keith, Hawks: </b>This was more Keith-like with a goal, 2 hits, 2 blocked shots and a plus-2.

<b>3. Wayne Simmonds, Kings:</b> Easily the Kings' best player with a goal and assist.

<b>Sharp winging it: </b>Putting Patrick Sharp back at wing on Jonathan Toews' line is paying off for Hawks coach Joel Quenneville. Sharp had 2 assists, 1 on a goal by Toews, but when the Hawks get healthy, Sharp could go back to center.