Playing Lalime works out fine

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- There might have been a few eyebrows raised when Blackhawks coach Denis Savard decided to start Patrick Lalime and not rookie Corey Crawford in goal Friday night against the Blue Jackets.

But Lalime did what he has done most of the season as one of the Hawks' unsung heroes -- he made a difference with 29 saves in a 6-3 victory at Nationwide Arena.

"I don't think anyone would have questioned me, the fact that he's done that all year for us, especially the last two months," Savard said. "If it doesn't pay off, well, he deserved it. He's been a survivor, as I said, and he got the win for us."

While the Hawks staked Lalime to a 3-0 first period lead, the Blue Jackets stormed back in the second. But Lalime stopped 15 of 17 shots to keep the Hawks ahead.

"We had a great start and just carried on," Lalime said. "The second period we maybe had a little letdown, but we really turned it around again in the third."

Now Savard has another tough choice to make Sunday when Calgary visits the United Center -- come back with Lalime or start Nikolai Khabibulin.

Khabibulin had another solid workout Friday morning and appears ready to return after missing 12 games with back spasms.

"We'll think about it," Savard said. "Habby had a good workout (Friday), Patty again played well for us, and you know Crawford has played well. I have a tough call to make."

Home sweet home: The Hawks expect a sellout against Calgary and next Wednesday when Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals visit on Tony Esposito night.

"We're looking forward to get home now, Sunday and Wednesday, and apparently we're sold out," Denis Savard said after Friday's win. "Our guys like that. We talked about that yesterday -- we said let's take this one home have a little momentum and hopefully we can be a streaky team the rest of the way."

Growth spurt: The Hawks have risen from 16th to ninth in merchandise sales compared to this time last season, according to the team.

Sales at their Fandemonium gift store in the United Center are up 184 percent, while sales at the HawkQuarters store downtown are up 151 percent.

Last week's game honoring Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita had the highest grossing retail sales for any Hawks game ever at the UC.

Tip-ins: Yanic Perreault was a late scratch Friday after he became ill during the warmup. Perreault, who was supposed to return after missing 16 games with a broken wrist, was replaced by Kevyn Adams. … Jason Williams left the bench in the third period complaining of dizziness. … Brent Sopel likely returns Sunday after missing 12 games with a broken hand.