Quenneville on Jonathan Toews: There's hope ... and that's where we're at

Jonathan Toews (concussion) did not practice or work out Saturday and will miss his 13th consecutive game when the Blackhawks host Washington today.

“It's part of the process,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Whether it's the uncertainty or reacting to how he's feeling ... that's kind of where we're at.”

Toews' morale cannot be good right now. He went from being so optimistic after skating for four straight days to suffering this setback with an unknown return date.

“He's a hockey player and he wants to play hockey,” Quenneville said. “You want to get optimistic, you want to get encouraged and I think that's where he was after skating.

“There's hope ... and that's where we're at.”

Déjà vu?

If not for Jamie Benn's goal late in the game Friday, Corey Crawford would have gone five straight periods without allowing a goal.

Crawford stopped all 18 shots he faced when he came in to replace Ray Emery for the final two periods in a win over St. Louis and then turned away 21 of 22 shots Friday in the Hawks' 4-1 win over Dallas.

“I liked how he came back in the middle of a game the other day in the big win he got over St. Louis,” Joel Quenneville said. “It was a big win for him, big win for us. Then he came right back with a nice solid game (Friday). It was nice to get him a start and I thought he was solid.

“Last year, at this time of the year, he really welcomed the challenge. And here he is again.“

Never goes away:

If and when Jonathan Toews returns from his concussion, Dave Bolland knows exactly what it's going to be like for the captain. Bolland went through the same thing last season.

“I think it's always in the back of your head once you've had a concussion (regardless) of how bad or how severe it was,” Bolland said. “It's always in the back of your mind that it could happen again and be your career.

“Everybody always has it. You're always thinking about it, but hopefully it won't happen again.”

Have Hawks, will travel:

Friday's crowd of 19,099 was the Stars' largest since the team moved to Dallas in 1993. The lucky Stars can thank a huge contingent of Blackhawks fans who traveled to Dallas for the game.

“It was awesome,” said Hawks rookie Jimmy Hayes. “It was louder when we scored than when they scored. It was pretty cool to look up in the stands and see all that red up there.

“It just shows you the kind of fan support we have.”

Clutch performers:

You can't say the Blackhawks aren't coming through in crunchtime.

They are 6-1-1 in their last eight games, including wins over Detroit, St. Louis and Dallas.

And don't expect the motivation to die down.

“You look at the standings and the points and it's hard not getting yourself up for games these days,” Patrick Kane said. “It seems like every game is more important than the next one.

“You can't get comfortable at all.”

What just happened?

Dave Bolland's goal 10 seconds into Friday's game was the fastest by an opponent in Stars franchise history, topping Rick Martin's tally for the Buffalo Sabres 11 seconds into a game against the Minnesota North Stars on Oct. 14, 1979.

The fastest goal in Blackhawks history was registered by Brent Sutter, eight seconds into a game against Vancouver on Feb. 5, 1995.

Thinking positive:

Single-game tickets for the first two rounds of potential 2012 Stanley Cup Playoff home contests for the Blackhawks will go on sale to the general public on Monday, March 26 at noon. Tickets will be available exclusively at ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000.

He said it:

“It's going to be weird not answering those questions from you guys (about him).”

— Patrick Kane, on whether it will be weird when/if Jonathan Toews returns to action.