Today’s News Clips March 16, 2019

ChicagoBlackhawks.com PREVIEW: Blackhawks at Canadiens 3/16

By Chris Wescot March 16, 2019

Chicago (31-30-9) is looking to record their fifth straight victory when they battle the Canadiens in Montreal on Saturday night. The Blackhawks found themselves back in the thick of the Western Conference Wild Card race after wins over Buffalo, Dallas, Arizona, and Toronto. But with a small margin for error, every two points count.

This is the second and final game of this road trip, with Chicago returning home for a pair of games to start next week.

Patrick Kane is the Blackhawks leading scorer and is just one point shy of reaching 100 points in a season for just the second time in his career. He had 106 points in 2015-16.

This year, Kane has 41 goals and 58 assists for 99 points in 69 games.

Second on the roster in scoring is , who has 30 goals and 41 assists for a total of 71 points in 70 games this season. He's reached the 70-point mark only one other time in his career (2010-11).

Trailing Toews is Alex DeBrincat. The sophomore sniper has 38 goals (69 points) in 70 games.

In net, Corey Crawford is the number one with an 11-15-2 record to go along with a 3.18 GAA and .902 SV%. Cam Ward (knee) is now healthy, so the team sent down to Rockford. Ward is 14-11-4 this season with a 3.72 GAA and .893 SV%.

Montreal has won just one of their last four games and is coming off a 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday.

Max Domi is the team leader in scoring with 62 points (24G, 38A) in 71 games this season. Tomas Tatar is tied with Jonathan Drouin with 50 points for second. Brendan Gallagher is the leading goal scorer with 30.

As for between the pipes, leads the way with a 2.58 GAA and .915 SV%, as well as a record of 29-21-5. has an 8-6-2 record with a 3.78 GAA and .887 SV%.

SEASON SERIES: This is the second of two meetings this season between the clubs. Chicago lost 3-2 at the United Center in the first game back on Dec. 9.

Kane scored twice in that game, including the equalizer in the second period. However, Tatar's game-winner came with just 1:17 left in the third.

Slater Koekkoek will enter the lineup for Carl Dahlstrom. Crawford is the projected starter for Chicago.

OPPONENT TO WATCH: Talented 23-year-old forward Drouin was originally the third-overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft by Tampa. While tied for second in scoring with 50 points, Drouin's production has dried up recently with no points in his last seven games.

Drouin is capable of exploding offensively, however. Each of the last four games in which he's got points have been multi-point outings.

Chicago Tribune 'It's always fun coming back here': Recovered from illness, Corey Crawford is excited to face the Canadiens in his hometown

By Jimmy Greenfield March 16, 2019

Corey Crawford started to feel sick a few hours before Wednesday’s game against the Maple Leafs, but it wasn’t enough to keep him off the ice.

The illness persisted, however, and after two periods the Blackhawks goalie left the game in favor of rookie Colin Delia. The fact the Hawks were leading by four goals — in a game they wound up winning 5-4 — factored into Crawford’s decision.

“Yeah, I think maybe a little bit,” Crawford said. “It was nice that we didn’t have any (penalty kills) either with no sustained zone pressure. That helped too. I wasn’t feeling great, but our guys did a great job all game.”

Crawford, who has won four straight starts, is recovered from what he said was a 24-hour bug, and coach Jeremy Colliton said the Montreal native will start Saturday against the Canadiens. Crawford is 4-0-2 in six starts in Montreal, including four straight victories.

“It’s always fun coming back here,” Crawford said after practice Friday at the Bell Centre. “After being here a few times, it’s not more relaxing but I guess (there are) a little less butterflies the day before. The first couple of times I was pretty nervous, even a couple of days before.”

Boom Chicago: The Hawks’ resurgence can be tied to the decision a few months ago to switch up the lines — putting and Jonathan Toews together and Alex DeBrincat and on another, hoping they could find their old chemistry. The team’s scorching-hot power play at the time helped too.

Kane and Toews no longer are on the same line and the power play has cooled considerably, but the moves jump- started the Hawks. Since Jan. 20, they are 15-6 and have averaged 4.5 goals per game.

"We kind of looked at our team in January and said, ‘You know what? We’re going to have to outscore teams,’ ” Colliton said. “We loaded up a line or two and said, ‘We're going to outscore you.’ That allowed us to stay in the race.

“That's not a recipe for long-term success. That's not going to win us any Cups, but we made a decision that we're going to have to kind of play this way to get the wins we need in the middle of the year there.”

The Hawks haven’t scored a power-play goal in six straight games and had only one opportunity over the last two.

Chicago Tribune 'It humbles us': Blackhawks hope to keep momentum after nearly blowing huge lead in 4th straight win

By Jimmy Greenfield March 16, 2019

The uncertain mood in the Blackhawks locker room after their 5-4 win over the Maple Leafs on Wednesday was a bit confusing.

It’s not often an underdog can take a tough two points on the road and come away ambivalent about the victory. But as they prepared to take on the Canadiens on Saturday, the Hawks were still processing how they nearly blew a five-goal lead.

“We beat a team 5-4 in their building, they’ve won four in a row and everyone’s disappointed after that game," Patrick Kane said Friday. “So it humbles us a little bit.”

Momentum can have an energy all its own. The Hawks had it in the first period when they scored four times against the Leafs, and they were working desperately to stop it when the Leafs started coming at them during the third period.

“It’s hard,” defenseman Connor Murphy said. “Especially because you’re on the road and you’ve got the building getting louder and louder and you can feel that. As soon as you give up one or two, you start to feel that pressure. But it definitely takes a team effort for everyone to relax, take a deep breath and try to bear down and make the high- percentage plays.

“We didn’t do a good job; we all talked about it today. But hopefully we learned and we’ll be better the next time it happens.”

The third period was even more confusing when you factor in how well the Hawks defense had played during the previous eight periods. In back-to-back wins over the Stars and Coyotes, the Hawks allowed a total of two goals and 52 shots on net.

With the firepower of John Tavares, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, the Leafs offense is better than that of the Stars and Coyotes. Yet the Hawks held them to 18 shots on goal through two periods and led 5-1.

Then it all turned. And Murphy thinks he knows why.

“One of the things that happens naturally in any game is when you’re winning by more than just a goal or two, you tend to think we have enough goals,” Murphy said. “We just want to hold them to not score. Sometimes, when your mindset is not scoring, you don’t play on your toes anymore. You end up just trying to defend and not to make mistakes, and that’s one of the worst ways you can play.”

The Hawks played so poorly in the third period against the Leafs, they arguably turned in the worst defensive performance of any team this season. They allowed 92 total shots to be taken at even strength — including shots on net, blocked shots and missed shots — which is the most any team has permitted in a game this season.

The previous high was the 86 shots the Golden Knights and Hurricanes allowed, each time to the Canadiens.

In the third period alone, the Hawks allowed 47 shots to be taken at even strength, including 28 on net. As a comparison, in the Hawks’ 7-1 win over the Coyotes on Monday, they allowed a total of 34 shots to be taken the entire game.

“A lot of the chances we gave up, it was more self-inflicted about not playing smart at that time of game,” Kane said. “But sometimes in that situation — we’ve seen it a few times this year — we get up a few goals and we just sit back and start playing defense. We still have to play the same way that got us to that point in the first place.”

The Leafs might have been motivated by seeing rookie goalie Collin Delia in net for the third period after Corey Crawford left with an illness. But that shouldn’t be a factor with so much on the line. Hawks coach Jeremy Colliton didn’t downplay the near-collapse or dismiss it out of hand as nothing to worry about.

What the Hawks needed, he said, was somebody to do something to take the momentum back. And that didn’t occur.

“At any time, you need a line to go out there and play in the offensive zone — win a puck back, win a race, draw a penalty, give us a hard shift in (the defensive) zone where you just win a battle and go the other way,” Colliton said. “That’s what you’re looking for. They were able to string a bunch of shifts together where they kept coming at us, and obviously they’ve got a lot of good players who make plays.

“When they have momentum like that, they’re going to create chances. We kind of fed that momentum, but we’ll learn from it.”

Chicago Sun Times Corey Crawford’s return to top form boosts Blackhawks’ long-shot playoff hopes

By Mark Potash March 16, 2019

After his second return from concussion-related issues this season, Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford is getting back to his old self.

‘‘Definitely,’’ Crawford said after the Hawks practiced Friday at the Bell Centre in preparation for their game Saturday against the Canadiens. ‘‘Reading plays faster. Definitely feel way quicker than before. It’s nice to feel that way. Feel confident.

‘‘Then again, it’s not one or two guys; it’s everybody playing hard. I think in the Dallas game [a 2-1 road victory last Saturday], we really showed that everyone was battling and playing well and, I think, playing the right way. That’s just kind of been carrying over.’’

Crawford returned Feb. 27 after missing all or part of 29 games with a concussion suffered Dec. 16 against the Sharks. After allowing 13 goals in his first three starts (4.32 goals-against average, .865 save percentage), Crawford has been stellar in his last three starts (1.13 GAA, .957 save percentage) in victories against the Stars, Coyotes and Maple Leafs.

The Hawks’ improved team defense in that span certainly has made things easier for Crawford, but improved defense magnifies Crawford’s importance down the stretch. When he only has to make three or four huge saves a game, he can make them as well or better than most goalies in the league. When it’s seven, eight or more — well, he’s not Superman.

The Hawks’ 5-4 victory Wednesday against the Leafs was at least a small indication of Crawford’s importance. Crawford left after the second period because of an illness, and the Leafs scored three goals on 29 shots against backup Collin Delia in the third. No doubt the Leafs’ desperation ignited the rally, but Crawford’s absence likely fueled it, too.

Crawford said he was feeling under the weather Wednesday and fought through it for two periods. With the Hawks leading 5-1, he gave way to Delia.

‘‘Just kind of tough luck,’’ he said. ‘‘But we were able to get two points, so that was nice. I think that was a great game by us in a tough building against a really good team. We played great defensively against a team that can create a lot.

‘‘Now we’re coming into a building against another team [the Canadiens] that needs points. I think it’s good for this team to be playing those playoff-type games. [It] brings our game to another level. I like where our team’s at right now.’’

With all due respect to Cam Ward and Delia, Crawford’s recent play is a reminder of how big a factor a goalie of his caliber can be when a team is playing at a higher level.

‘‘Ward and Delia have played really well for us,’’ wing Patrick Kane said. ‘‘We probably haven’t given them as much help as we could have. But Crow’s a top in the NHL. . . . Obviously, we’re going to feel confident with him in the net.’’

Coach Jeremy Colliton didn’t want to diminish Ward’s and Delia’s contributions, either. But he also acknowledged the lift an elite Crawford provides.

‘‘[Delia] and [Ward] have been great for us,’’ Colliton said. ‘‘They helped us to stay within striking distance to go on the run we’re on right now. But there’s no doubt Crow has a tremendous effect on the team. His presence, the confidence he has. He knows what to do in certain situations, whether it’s get a whistle or to play [the puck]. He’ll start the breakout for you. He means a lot to the team.’’