Raanta strong as surprise starter for hurt Crawford

The question didn't come up every day for the past two weeks. It probably only felt that way to Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville.

"Everyone asked, 'When does Antti (Raanta) get to play?' and I said things change quickly," Quenneville said following Tuesday's morning skate. "We didn't think it was going to be that quick, but here he is today."

Raanta, who most likely would have made his season debut this weekend, suddenly became the surprise starter in goal Tuesday night against Philadelphia after Corey Crawford suffered an upper-body injury at practice Monday and subsequently was listed as day to day by Quenneville.

"It's the first game, so you're always a bit nervous," said Raanta, who posted a 13-5-0 record with a .897 save percentage and 2.71 goals against average last season. "But I feel pretty confident going in."

And it showed as he made 32 saves to help the Hawks to 4-0 victory. It was Raanta's second career shutout.

A different perspective:

By now, if you aren't aware of the Blackhawks struggles on the power play (3-for-21 entering Tuesday's game), well, you're not really trying.

While everyone seems to be looking for solutions, Patrick Sharp has a different take on the less-than-stellar numbers.

"We've scored a couple of big goals on it this year," Sharp said. "We're not very happy with the way it turned out the last couple of games, but we have another opportunity (vs. the Flyers)."

That positivity paid off because Patrick Kane came through with two power play goals.

During the Hawks first PP, Kane scored from the side of the net to make it 2-0. Kane also scored the Hawks fourth goal of the night on a PP in the third.

The big guy is back:

The injury to Corey Crawford forced the Hawks to recall goaltender Scott Darling from Rockford early Tuesday.

Darling, 25, has appeared in two games this season with Rockford, posting a 2-0 record with a 1.44 goals-against average and .948 save percentage.

The Lemont native also appeared in two preseason contests with the Hawks, stopping all 27 shots he faced en route to 2 wins.

Philly stakes:

It seems like eons since Patrick Sharp arrived in Chicago via the Flyers, but even after all these years the veteran forward admits he gets a little extra pumped when facing his former team.

"I still watch the Philly games, I still have friends in the organization," Sharp said. "It's always exciting to play the team that drafted you and won a championship there in the minors.

"I get excited to play them."

He said it:

"He was Spider-Man, and if you guys have seen Seabs' body … in a skintight Spider-Man costume? It wasn't the ripped, muscled Spider-Man that you're used to seeing."

- Patrick Sharp on teammate Brent Seabrook's Halloween costume