With Lehner gone, Hawks will need to solve goalie problem
ST. LOUIS - When NHL general managers are constructing a playoff-caliber roster they usually want to start with a high-quality goaltender.
No surprise there.
As the Blackhawks start to look to the future - one that will almost certainly not include the just-traded Robin Lehner - they'll have some difficult decisions to make.
The toughest may be whether or not they should bring back Corey Crawford, who missed significant time in 2017-18 and 2018-19 with a pair of serious concussions.
"I don't know if it's a big thing. It's a factor," said general manager Stan Bowman. "If you look down on the ice, I would say most of these guys have had a concussion in their careers - some of them this year - and they're still playing. So there's no way to foretell what's going to happen to a guy's health.
"Right now, just happy that he's had a successful year. ... Up until (2017-18), he'd been a very healthy goalie, so it's not like he's been an injury-riddled guy. This year he's gotten through it.
"It's a factor. Is it a big factor? Not sure about that."
Crawford made his 32nd start during the Hawks' 6-5 loss at St. Louis on Tuesday. He allowed a power-play goal 33 seconds into the contest, then gave up 3 goals in less than six minutes of a wildly entertaining third period in which the Hawks fell behind 4-3, but then took a 5-4 lead on tallies by Matthew Highmore and Brandon Saad.
Zach Sanford endedup scoring the game-winner for the Blues (37-17-10) on a power-play goal with 6:25 remaining.
Duncan Keith (2), Connor Murphy (5) and Patrick Kane (28) also for the Hawks, who scored 3 power-play goals for the first time since January 9, 2018.
Despite an erratic playing schedule and a rough game in St. Louis, Crawford has been impressive of late. Heading into Tuesday's game, he had a .933 save percentage and 2.16 goals-against average over his last 12 appearances.
If the Hawks (27-28-8) don't re-sign Crawford, there are several directions they may go.
One would be to let Malcolm Subban, who was just acquired from Vegas as part of the Lehner trade, Colin Delia, Kevin Lankinen and Matt Tompkins battle for the No. 1 job.
The more likely option would be to sign a different goalie in free agency. The top five right now are probably Washington's Braden Holtby, the Islanders' Thomas Greiss, Vancouver's Jakob Markstrom, Dallas' Anton Khudobin and Boston's Jaroslav Halak. Halak will be 35 next season, though, while Khudobin and Greiss will be 34.
Century mark for Keith:
Duncan Keith became the fourth Blackhawks defenseman to reach 100 career goals when he scored on the power play at 10:55 of the first period in St. Louis on Tuesday. The achievement didn't mean much to the veteran, however, on the heels of a disappointing 6-5 setback.
"It's obviously nice to get a milestone, but it is what it is. It doesn't really matter," said Keith, who has more goals against the Blues (11) than any other opponent. "I don't care right now. … Always better in a win and that didn't happen tonight."
Keith is 3 goals behind Brent Seabrook for third among Hawks D-men. Doug Wilson (225) and Bob Murray (132) occupy the top two spots.
Talking the talk:
Malcolm Subban went from the first-place Vegas Golden Knights to the last-place Blackhawks on Monday, but the 26-year-old goalie wasn't about to talk badly about his new team.
"Obviously you look around the league, there are teams like St. Louis last year that was at the bottom of the league and came up," Subban said. "There's a lot of great players in that room, so I have faith that we can be a good team."
Subban was 9-7-3 with a .890 save percentage and 3.18 goals-against average with Vegas this season.