With Crawford sidelined, Raanta looks to step up

Corey Crawford looked like a kid preparing to fess up to his parents for a misdeed as he slowly made his way toward a gaggle of reporters and cameras eagerly awaiting to hear from him Wednesday morning at the United Center.

Crawford's trek from the locker room to the microphones was made even slower courtesy of a walking boot on his left leg.

But after a day of intrigue in which the only clue was coach Joel Quenneville saying on Tuesday that the Blackhawks goalie had suffered an "off-ice, lower body" injury, the suspense finally came to an end with word that Crawford will be out of the lineup for 2 to 3 weeks.

Here's why:

"I was at a concert the other day and was on the way out, and I missed a step, and I didn't think it was that bad," Crawford said. "I got up the next day, and it was worse than I thought.

"I'm pretty embarrassed about it, frustrated."

Crawford had been on a roll of late, starting 14 consecutive games, and getting better and better as the season progressed. By the time the circus trip wrapped up, he was sporting a 12-5-1 record and a 1.87 goals-against average.

Now he has to watch from the sidelines for a few weeks.

"That's the nature of the season and the business; I know that there's always good and bad times," Quenneville said. "There are always some things you can't predict, but that's all part of it."

Now it's Antti Raanta who likely will be the main man in net. And it'll be a trial by fire for him in a week featuring games against the Blues, Montreal and Nashville.

But Raanta, who prior to Wednesday's game against St. Louis hadn't played since Oct. 25, is savoring this opportunity.

"Oh, of course," he said. "That's why I'm here. You always try to get your chances, and when you get your chance you try to be the best guy there."

Eye on the standings:

Yeah, fans aren't the only ones checking out the standings lately.

Players do it, too.

"I think you keep an eye on it once in a while just to see how things are going," Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "Especially when things are going well, you'll maybe look at it a little more often."

Getting closer:

Though he's improving by leaps and bounds, Patrick Sharp's return to the lineup probably won't happen until Saturday at the earliest.

"We'll see," coach Joel Quenneville said when asked if No. 10 might be back in the lineup Friday against Montreal. "First real skate today, first contact. (Friday) might be pressing it."

He said it:

"I would say they're the new Vancouver Canucks, if anything. It goes both ways. I don't think they like us very much, either."

- Jonathan Toews on the Hawks-Blues rivalry