Stauber makes history by starting career 3-0
The winningest goalies in Blackhawks history are absolute legends, all with 200-plus victories to their names.
Tony Esposito is the king of the mountain with 418 wins. He's followed by Glenn Hall (276), two-time Stanley Cup winner Corey Crawford (260) and Ed Belfour (201).
None of them, however, won the first three games of their career with the Hawks.
In fact, nobody had.
Until Friday night at the United Center when Jaxson Stauber improved to 3-0-0 after making 23 saves in the Hawks' 4-3 OT win against Arizona.
"It's pretty cool," the soft-spoken 23-year-old said when informed of his history-making feat. "Obviously really special (doing it) with an Original Six team and so many great goalies. It feels good."
Stauber wasn't even on the radar when this season began as the Hawks figured to go to battle with Petr Mrazek, Alex Stalock and Arvid Soderblom.
But he's been ready from the moment his number was called by posting victories at St. Louis on Jan. 21 and at Calgary on Jan. 26.
"I mean you're always ready for whatever comes, right?" Stauber said. "A lot of things can happen and obviously we've seen this year with the goalie situation it's pretty crazy. Learn pretty early on always to be ready."
Caleb Jones gave the Hawks the victory by scoring with 1:23 left in OT off a rebound of a shot by Andreas Athanasiou. It was Jones' second goal of the season.
The Hawks stormed back from a 2-0 deficit on goals by Seth Jones (6), Athanasiou (11) and Colin Blackwell (2). Blackwell's tally made it 3-2 at 14:34 of the third period, but Arizona tied it at 3-3 when Nick Bjugstad scored three minutes later.
Stauber's biggest stops came with 13:21 remaining in the third period when he snared a point-blank shot by Bjugstad, and with 3:14 left in OT when he fended off a wrist shot by Barrett Hayton.
The Hawks (16-29-5) improved to 8-4-1 in their last 13 games, while Arizona fell to 17-28-7.
Toews update:
Jonathan Toews remains out with an illness and will not join the Hawks when they begin a four-game road trip in Winnipeg on Saturday.
"If he feels good, he'll maybe join us (later)," said coach Luke Richardson. "We're just letting him get his feet wet and get his strength back."
Toews has 14 goals and 14 assists and is winning an NHL-best 63.3% of his faceoffs.
Almost back:
Defenseman Jarred Tinordi, who suffered multiple facial fractures after taking a puck to the face against the Rangers on Dec. 18, should return to action against Winnipeg on Saturday. "The D's been playing really well, so I just told him to be a little patient," coach Luke Richardson said when asked if Tinordi would play Friday against Arizona.
The 30-year-old Tinordi has 2 goals, 3 assists, 37 blocked shots and 92 hits in 25 games.