Blackhawks 6, Blue Jackets 1: Hawks close road trip with romp
By Adam L. Jahns ajahns@suntimes.com February 18, 2012 6:10PM
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Updated: March 20, 2012 8:26AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A wild nine-game trek across North America filled with poor play and discouraging losses resulted in a lot of questions about the Blackhawks and an endless list of individuals from the front office to the players to point fingers at and blame.
But it’s all over. In the end, the Hawks — notably goalie Corey Crawford — have things to build on. That’s what they all say they’ll look at.
The grind of being on the road for so long surely compounded their on-ice struggles which contributed to a nine-game losing streak, but the Hawks return to Chicago with some self-belief after dismantling the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets as they should have in a 6-1 victory at Nationwide Arena on Saturday.
As they had hoped, the Hawks were able to build off their riveting 4-2 win Thursday over the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Blue Jackets, despite their poor position in the standings, had won four of six coming into the game.
“Obviously, the first seven games were tough, but sometimes you come out of it with positives,” said winger Patrick Kane, who had a goal and an assist. “You finish off the trip with a couple wins, and you can get excited with a lot of things.”
The biggest have to be the play of their top players and Crawford.
The Hawks’ top line of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp and Kane combined for three goals and eight points against the Blue Jackets. Toews scored on a highlight-reel move, racing past the Columbus defense to tie the game at 1 at 12:27 in the first period.
Viktor Stalberg, Marcus Kruger and Sami Lepisto also scored.
Crawford, meanwhile, made 33 saves for his second strong outing in a row. Crawford was beaten by Derick Brassard 5:13 into the first after a bad turnover by Lepisto. But Crawford shook it off and shut out the Blue Jackets the rest of the way as Toews, Sharp and Kane took over.
Crawford’s best stop — and perhaps a sign that he’s finally settled in — came halfway through the second period and after a bad giveaway by rookie defenseman Dylan Olsen. Columbus standout Jeff Carter was given a “Grade-A chance” according to coach Joel Quenneville and Crawford turned it away.
Crawford also benefitted from big plays by his defense, which included Brent Seabrook clearing a puck that had trickled behind Crawford from the crease. Duncan Keith also was a plus-4.
Every aspect seemed to feed off each other as the Hawks chased Steve Mason (16 saves) in the second period.
“Goalies, knowing the confidence they need getting some wins after a tough stretch for that area of our game, it’s got to help everybody,” Quenneville said. “[Crawford] was really good. He was square. He was big. He responded [after] an early goal.”
Asked if he feels confident and ready for an extended stretch in goal, Crawford said he’d just look at his next game. And that might come Sunday against the St. Louis Blues at the United Center.
“I’m just focused in the net,” Crawford said. “It just seems like I’m controlling everything and not moving around too much. I’m more and more in control. I feel good. But I just have to keep going.”
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