Crawford, Blackhawks heat up in win over Flames
There's something about the beginning of the regular season that has agreed with Corey Crawford the last three years.
In 2014-15, for instance, the Hawks' goaltender went 9-4 with a .927 save percentage in his sixth through 18th starts.
Last year, in starts 4-9, Crawford went 5-1 with a ridiculous .952 save percentage.
And this year, in starts 5-8, Crawford is 3-0-1 with a .961 save percentage. His eighth start came Tuesday and he was his normal spectacular self, stopping 32 of 33 shots in a 5-1 victory over Calgary at the United Center.
Patrick Kane, Artem Anisimov, Tyler Motte, Artemi Panarin and Niklas Hjalmarsson scored for the Hawks, who are 6-1-1 since losing their first two games of the season.
Kane gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead with 1:02 left in the first period on the team's sixth and final shot on goal in the first 20 minutes.
Calgary knotted things up when Michael Frolik completed a 2-on-1 break by scoring short-handed 7:06 into the second period.
The Flames took advantage of Duncan Keith's stick shattering on a shot attempt and raced the other way. Keith went to the bench to try and get a new stick, but missed the handoff and was far too late to help Brent Seabrook stop Mikael Backlund's perfect pass to Frolik right in front of the net.
Anisimov's game-winner came on the power play when Kane threw a pass that hit the big center's stick right in front of the net and deflected past Flames goalie Brian Elliott with 12:16 left in the game. The goal extended Anisimov's career-best points streak to eight games (7G, 5A).
Motte's goal came with 7:26 go and was a thing of beauty. The rookie took the puck just outside the Hawks' offensive zone, blazed past TJ Brodie and proceeded to swoop in on Elliott. With the Flames' goalie leaning left, Motte got into the crease and slid the puck into the net for his third goal of the season.
Panarin's goal (with 3:01 left) came into an empty net and Hjalmarsson put the icing on the cake with a blast that beat Elliott 77 seconds later.
The Hawks (6-3-1) are just two weeks away from embarking on their annual circus trip and have four of their next six games at home. Before Tuesday's game, coach Joel Quenneville said his team needs to take advantage of playing at the United Center before embarking on that seven-game trip, which includes stops in Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles.
“We know the standings are tight and everybody's kind of bunched up in the same type of place,” Quenneville said. “So hopefully we can put ourselves in a better spot here with this home-ice advantage.”
Slap shots:
Rookie defenseman Gustav Forsling returned from an upper-body injury. Forsling, who missed two games, was paired with Michal Rozsival. … After killing off just 9 of 23 power plays by their opponents, the Hawks have killed off 12 of the last 13, including 4 of 4 against Calgary. … Artem Anisimov's 7 goals now lead the Hawks.
• Follow John's Hawks reports on Twitter @johndietzdh.