Blackhawks to start Darling in goal; Crawford grabs some bench

Perform. Or else.

That's the message Joel Quenneville has consistently sent to his players over his 18 years as an NHL head coach.

This year that message has been received loud and clear by Antoine Vermette, Kris Versteeg and Bryan Bickell, among others.

Now you can add Corey Crawford's name to that list. In one of the more shocking developments in recent Stanley Cup playoffs history, Crawford — a Stanley Cup winning goalie — will sit and watch Game 3 Sunday at the United Center while Scott Darling — a rookie with just 15 NHL games under his belt — patrols the net.

Quenneville told reporters that the decision was completely based on performance and it's difficult to argue with the numbers: Crawford's save percentage is .809, while Darling's is flat-out perfect.

“We obviously had a tough choice this time knowing both guys get some consideration,” Quenneville said. “Scotty is coming off a spectacular outing. It think his play is deserving of getting the start here at home and getting back in the net is something he deserves based on how well he played in that game.”

Make no mistake: As Quenneville said, this was not an easy call.

But it was the right one, and one they should have made after Game 1.

I know I was in the minority in that thinking, and it was nothing against Crawford, who was arguably the MVP of the team's 2013 Cup run. He's been a solid, very dependable NHL goalie for five seasons, racking up 42 victories in the last two postseasons alone.

But sometimes you have to ride the hot hand, and Darling certainly has that. Hot goalies can take teams that have no business advancing round after round deep into the postseason, and sometimes take them all the way to lifting the Cup at the end.

Eight years ago, when I was working on a three-part series about the pitiful state of the Hawks at the time, Stan Mikita told me that the team “had no business winning” the Cup in 1961. But they did thanks to “one of the greatest series ever played by a goaltender,” according to Mikita.

That would be Glenn Hall, who shut out Montreal in Games 6 and 7 of the semifinals, propelling the Hawks into the Final where they prevailed in six games over Detroit.

This is in no way insinuating that Scott Darling is going to turn into Glenn Hall. But at the risk of repeating myself, it's OK to ride the hot hand. Just look at what Devan Dubnyk (Minnesota) and Andrew Hammond (Ottawa) did this year in leading their teams' incredible rides to the postseason. Dubnyk started 39 of the Wild's final 40 games, compiling a .936 save percentage and 27-9-2 record, while Hammond went 20-1-2 with a .942 save percentage for the Senators down the stretch.

So Darling it is, and based on his 42-save performance in Game 1, it's easy to see why replacing Crawford was the right call, even if it was a game late.

The news to Crawford was delivered Saturday by goaltending coach Jimmy Waite, so Quenneville wasn't sure how his veteran goalie reacted.

“I would expect Crow to handle it like a pro and I think he'd be understanding,” Quenneville said, knowing that the competitive instinct where you want to be in the net and you can't wait to get it back would be there.

“And I'm sure he's probably not happy, but I can't say exactly how he handled it.”

I asked Quenneville how tough it was to make this switch in light of everything Crawford's done for the organization.

“It's not like he's never going to play again. It's not like he's discarded off the team,” Quenneville said. “He's still a part of it. He's a big part of it. Things change instantly in our game. ...

“That's the business we're in, performance (driven) a lot of times. Sometimes you make it for other reasons. This one is strictly Scott's played outstanding in the series. That's been the differential.”

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