Darling needed that shutout win for Blackhawks

Scott Darling needed this. Badly.

The Blachawks' backup goalie hasn't exactly been having a stellar season to this point, so his 28-save performance in a 4-0 Blackhawks victory in Winnipeg on Friday is just what the hockey doctors ordered.

Darling has muddled along this season, going 6-6-2 before Friday with a pedestrian .912 save percentage. He was in net for the second straight time while Corey Crawford is dealing with an upper-body injury. Crawford is day-to-day.

Darling wasn't terrible during a 3-2 loss to Philadelphia on Wednesday, but one had to wonder if Crawford would have made a key save on the Flyers' second-period goal that tied the game at 2-2.

Brayden Schenn beat Darling with a wicked one-timer, but the question is: Should Darling have been quicker to react to his left on the play? The Flyers were on a 2-on-1 with Claude Giroux barreling into the Hawks' zone while being cut off by Duncan Keith. Giroux proceeded to stop, turn and zip the puck over to Schenn.

Crawford has talked a lot this year about knowing what's about to transpire a second or two before it actually does.

"The more you play, the more you have visual memorization," Crawford told team historian Bob Verdi. "You see many of the same players again and again, the same teams. You learn how to read plays, anticipate. You learn tendencies."

For Darling, that should come in time, but it certainly isn't there yet for a player who has had just 28 NHL starts.

Still, he looked a whole lot better Friday, making 11 saves during a balky first period for the Hawks and another beauty midway through the second on a one-timer by Drew Stafford. On that save, Darling went post to post after Blake Wheeler executed a perfect no-look pass.

Just over five minutes later, the Hawks went up 2-0 on goals by Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa en route to a victory that snapped a four-game losing streak.

"Looking at a four-game slide there, maybe it's better it happens now rather than later in the season and playoffs and then you're done," Kane told reporters. "We can learn from this. And, you know, if we lose one or two down the road here we can look back on this situation as a team and as a group and realize how we got ourselves out of it."

Smooth as butter:

Dale Weise certainly had his best game Friday since coming to the Hawks in a trade with the Canadiens. The winger was noticeable all night and would have given his team a 1-0 lead in the first period if not for Ondrej Pavelec's unreal glove save with 5:15 to go.

Weise took a pass from former Montreal teammate Tomas Fleischmann and shot just feet away from the net, only to be absolutely robbed. He skated away in utter disbelief.

As for Fleischmann, he continues to impress. The 6-foot-1, 192-pound winger scored for the third time in nine games as a Blackhawk and has shown his versatility over and over again.

Both of these guys are also great in the locker room, too, and we'll have a more detailed look at them - as well as Christian Ehrhoff - later this week. When I asked Fleischmann if he'd given any thought about possibly remaining with the Hawks after the season is over - as Andrew Desjardins did last year - Fleischmann cracked me up when he said: "I think about the next hour. I don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow. I know there's a game, but other than that ..."

A good cause:

The Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild and both team's TV and radio partners are coming together to help raise funds for Matt Olson, the Minnesota native who suffered a spinal cord injury last month while playing junior hockey for the Chicago Cougars at the Sears Centre.

Fans can bid on experiences such as traveling with the Blackhawks or Wild on their team planes for a road game. The auction will open Sunday at noon and close at noon on Wednesday, March 30.

Go to chicagoblackhawks.com/Mo3 or wild.com/Mo3 for more information.

"The Blackhawks organization stands with the Olson family and encourages our fans to consider supporting this important cause," said Jay Blunk, the team's Executive Vice President.

• Follow John's Hawks reports on Twitter @johndietzdh.

Scouting report

Blackhawks (42-24-6) vs. Minnesota Wild (33-28-11) at United Center, 7:30 p.m.

TV: NBCSN

Radio: WGN 720-AM

The skinny: Minnesota, in a fierce battle with Colorado for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, beat Carolina in a shootout on Saturday to get within 1 point of the Avs. The Wild is 10-6-1 since John Torchetti took over as coach in mid-February. ... The Hawks are 0-2-1 against Minnesota and have managed just 2 goals in the last two games vs. the Wild. ... Minnesota has no dominant scorer as seven players have between 38-49 points. Charlie Coyle leads the way with 21 goals, but he hasn't scored in nine straight games. ... Winger Thomas Vanek (18 goals) was a healthy scratch against the Hurricanes.

Next: Dallas Stars at the United Center, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

- John Dietz