The puck whizzed by Corey Crawford and was in the back of his net barely 30 seconds into the first period on Wednesday night. It wasnt really Crawfords fault, but it was nevertheless a tough one to give up that quickly.
A few weeks ago, when Crawford was struggling, giving up that goal likely wouldve led to giving up a few more. But Crawford buckled down after that early one and never allowed the Vancouver Canucks another one in the Blackhawks 2-1 overtime victory. Its another sign that the goaltender is regaining the game that he had his rookie season.
Its not the way you want to start the game, the first shot in. But I was able to battle back, get myself into the game, Crawford said. Our defense was pretty good for most of the game and didnt give up much.
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And Crawford gave up even less. He came up biggest in the third period, when the Canucks went on a late charge and threw 14 shots at him.
I thought he rebounded, I thought he responded, coach Joel Quenneville said.
Crawford said hes never lost confidence this season, but it certainly looked like it was wavering during his slumps. Crawfords ridden the goaltending merry-go-round this season: hes had the net, gotten pulled, lost the net, waited for another chance, got it back againand he repeated that sequence at least once.
But since Crawfords latest second chancewhen he relieved Ray Emery and claimed the shootout victory against the St. Louis Blues on March 13hes been stellar. In his last five appearances, Crawfords allowed just five goals on 107 shots.
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(My confidence) has been the same as all year, Crawford said Wednesday night. Ive made a couple adjustments to my game that we talked about before and Im seeing the puck well and thats huge.
And last night may have been a huge step, too. Crawford wasnt flustered by the quick goal, wasnt getting away from the adjustments hes made.
When Crawford took over the No. 1 goaltending job in the second half of last season, he was showing this type of confidence. He wasnt giving up much, he was dependable and he wasnt rattled easily. Crawfords starting to show that side again.
Thats one of those things where hes strong mentally, Marian Hossa said. You can tell by (Wednesday), especially against a team like Vancouver. After that (first goal) he played unbelievable. Thats huge for him and for us.