Hawks expect Crawford to work way out of slump
Whatever problems Corey Crawford is having with his game, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville will continue to let the second-year goalie play his way through them.
Crawford will get the start again Friday night against the New York Islanders despite an off game in Tuesday’s loss to Phoenix and the fact his numbers have dipped over the last several weeks.
Crawford’s goals-against average has risen to 2.86 while his save percentage is down to .898. Both numbers are among the worst for starting goalies.
“I thought he had an outstanding October and the last month not to that same caliber,” Quenneville said. “That standard he put himself at, that’s an elite goaltender type of numbers or performances that we were seeing.
“It wasn’t at that same level (in November), but at the same time he had some real good games in the middle of that.”
With back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, there’s a chance backup Ray Emery will get the call on Saturday at St. Louis.
The Blues also play back-to-back games and coach Ken Hitchcock said on Thursday that Jaroslav Halak would start on Friday at Colorado and Brian Elliott on Saturday against the Hawks.
Elliott is the hottest goalie in the NHL with a record of 10-1, a 1.31 goals-against average and .951 save percentage.
Toews and Kane:Jonathan Toews was named the NHL#146;s second star of the month for November on the strength of 18 points.Toews will start the new month with long-time wing man Patrick Kane back on his right side.#147;You just have to go out and make things happen,#148; Toews said. #147;We#146;ve said all year you throw different combinations in there when maybe you don#146;t have your best game or you lose one and try to change things up and make them work again.#147;Kaner#146;s proven he can play at center. Who knows if going back on the wing if he#146;s going to be as comfortable as ever. We just have to go out and make plays and work hard and see what happens and try to generate some offense.#148;Not exactly killing it:Even though the Hawks still rank last in the league in penalty killing, Joel Quenneville believes he sees better things happening.It#146;s been all downhill for the Hawks on the PK since they let Vancouver score 5 power plays goals in a Nov. 6 loss at the United Center.#147;You take away that Vancouver game and we were very happy with how our PK was coming along,#148; Quenneville said. #147;I don#146;t think we#146;ve had other games where the penalty killing has been costing us games or it#146;s been an issue or a problem.#147;We don#146;t like the positioning we#146;re at. We feel it#146;s been improved from last year, maybe not reflective in those numbers league-wide when you#146;re in that area. But the course of quality and number of chances we#146;re giving up, I think it#146;s been better.#148;Tip-ins:Brent Seabrook and Dave Bolland missed practice Thursday but will be in the lineup against the Islanders... Steve Montador also sat out practice, but Joel Quenneville didn#146;t say if Montador would play... #147;The Bomb Shelter,#148; Daniel Carcillo#146;s music-related radio show on WGN, debuts Friday night at 11 p.m. after the game.