Blackhawks' Crawford relieved misplay wasn't costly

There might not have been anyone more thankful that the Blackhawks ended up pulling out their 5-4 overtime victory over the Stars on Sunday than Corey Crawford.

That's because the veteran goalie nearly lost the game in the extra session with some bad stickhandling behind the net that resulted in Crawford and Niklas Hjalmarsson each flailing on the ice trying to stop a Cody Eakin shot from point-blank range.

"Guys were giving it to me on that one," Crawford said. "Just a misplay. Old-school, two-pad jumping,

"I don't know what the heck that was. Thank god it hit me or the boos would've come raining down,

"It's funny how things worked out, though, because we came right back and scored. For all the tough bounces we've been getting, we got a bounce our way."

TVR progressing:

Rookie defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk's rehab from patella surgery looks like it's ahead of schedule and he will return before the end of the regular season.

"Oh, yeah, for sure," coach Joel Quenneville said. "He's on that timeline. He might even be ahead of that curve.

"I think we had a forecast of about three months with him initially. I think now he's at that turning point where all of a sudden he can start doing some more things with it and start more of the rehab process."

Big numbers:

Sunday's Blackhawks game against the Stars garnered the highest ever Blackhawks HH rating on WGN-TV, with an 8.2 rating, peaking at a 12 rating. An average of 286,200 households and 421,900 viewers tuned in to watch the game, which finished No. 1 in prime time.

He said it:

"I see the same guy. I don't think he's played as well as he was going into the injury. He was outstanding. I think he's trying to get back to that consistent play. That's a work in progress, and that's a pretty fair assessment."

- Joel Quenneville on goalie Corey Crawford, who has allowed 18 goals in six games since returning from injury