Hawks not backing down in 3-0 win over Ducks

Maybe the Blackhawks have arrived as a team to be reckoned with in the Western Conference.

Not only did the Hawks shut out the Anaheim Ducks 3-0 Wednesday night at the United Center behind rookie goalie Corey Crawford, they stood up physically to the defending Stanley Cup champs at every turn and dished the rough stuff right back at them.

The Hawks even had the Ducks complaining of questionable tactics following the game -- specifically of Ben Eager and Rene Bourque going after Chris Pronger's broken jaw.

"That's as tough a team as there is in the league," Hawks center Adam Burish said. "I mean, they're in your face every second, and we responded. We took it to them. We're not backing down from anybody."

Hawks coach Denis Savard couldn't say enough about his team and how it responded in a critical game after having played -- and won -- the night before on the road in Minnesota.

"We got challenged, we really did, and we responded," Savard said. "We played the champions tonight and we stayed right with them. We went toe to toe with them. We're refusing to lose right now."

The Hawks' third straight win and ninth in the last 12 games (including five straight at home) left them just 4 points out of a playoff spot in the tight West race.

Crawford made 19 saves in posting a shutout for his first career win in his second NHL start.

"He played a heck of a game for us," Savard said. "It's a great tribute to him. He's a young man and he's put really under the gun and he stepped up. A lot of guys did."

Crawford's first start came two seasons ago in St. Louis and resulted in a 6-5 shootout loss. The defense in front of him was much better this time.

"The guys played awesome tonight," Crawford said. "We didn't give up much, especially second chances. I saw the puck the whole game. That's a huge 2 points against a team like that."

Crawford faced only 3 shots in the first period and came out of it with a 1-0 lead on Dustin Byfuglien's power-play goal.

"Savvy talked about that this morning, about having a great start to let Corey settle in a little bit, not that he needs it," Burish said. "I know him from playing with him last year and he's so calm and poised. But we made a point of playing in their end a little bit, and we did that."

The Hawks went 2-for-9 on the power play and forgotten afterward was how they came up empty on a seven-minute advantage that started late in the first period and included two full minutes of a 5-on-3.

But the power play came up huge in the third period when Cam Barker scored at 9:01 to make it 2-0. The goal came after Patrick Kane took a huge hit along the boards but stayed with it to make a play.

"Even though we didn't get a goal there with the seven minutes and the 5-on-3, the second goal was a huge power-play goal," Savard said. "The play Kane made, to get hit like he did, to stay on the play and to finish it off, really says something about him."