Blackhawks' Darling staying focused, not yet comfortable

Scott Darling is taking nothing for granted.

Sure, the Blackhawks' goalie bought a new home in the city and moved in with his girlfriend. And, yes, the couple bought a new dog, "a little Havanese mutt" named Lola.

And, OK, Darling also purchased a pair of season tickets for his mom and two sisters.

But when we asked Darling on Wednesday if he's finally feeling comfortable with his job status, the answer was a resounding no.

"I've got to do my job," said Darling, who started his first game of the season Saturday in the Hawks 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders. "There's so many good goalies out there, and if I don't do my job, somebody else will. I'm very focused on staying on the path that I've been on."

Darling certainly was focused against the Isles, making 28 saves, his biggest coming with 16:05 left in the second period when he turned away a charging Nikolay Kulemin.

Trevor van Riemsdyk, Artemi Panarin, Patrick Kane and Brent Seabrook scored for the Hawks (2-1-0). Kane, who assisted on the first two scores, already has 3 goals and 3 assists on the young season.

"I thought we got better every game, probably every period," coach Joel Quenneville said.

For van Riemsdyk, playing in his 24th game (including playoffs), it was his first NHL goal.

"Well worth the wait," said van Riemsdyk, who opened the scoring 4:07 into the game by backhanding in a rebound of Kane's shot from the point. "It's nice when it comes in a win the way it did."

The same five players were on the ice for the Hawks' first 3 goals: Panarin, Kane, van Riemsdyk, Trevor Daley and Artem Anisimov.

After the way Darling performed in the postseason last year against Nashville, it's easy to forget that he has just 20 NHL games under his belt. But that is indeed the case as the Lemont native toiled in the nether regions of hockey's wasteland for close to a decade.

Then, after impressing with Rockford last season, Darling was promoted to back up Corey Crawford, and the rest is history.

Darling's cat-quick reflexes and overall instincts - not to mention his 6-foot-6, 233-pound frame - have made it awfully tough for opponents to find ways to beat him.

"Mentally, I'm more experienced," Darling said. "I had my first year; I went through a lot and got through a lot of different situations. I worked really hard in the summer to get ready for the season, and I'm happy to start off on the right foot."

The journeyman goalie signed a two-year contract last February, which he admits is "a little bit of piece of mind" as far as having some stability in the organization.

As for those season tickets, how are his sisters and mom deciding on which games they are coming to?

"They got two," Darling said, "and they're going to work it out amongst themselves."