The Bell Centre was always a good bet to be the place for Corey Crawford’s official ‘I’m back’ moment.
The Montreal native has long tortured his hometown Canadiens and he took things to a new level on Saturday night, turning aside a career-high 48 shots during a critical 2-0 Chicago Blackhawks win.
The Hawks — six points back of the final Western Conference wild card — are in tough to make the playoffs this season, meaning the team of the decade is on the verge of consecutive quiet springs. But, increasingly, there are reasons to believe Chicago is course-correcting and Crawford’s recent play might be the most welcome among them.
Concussions have plagued the 34-year-old the past two years to the point that it seemed justified to worry about his career being in jeopardy. His most recent sideline stint saw Crawford on the shelf from mid-December until the second-last day of February. He’s played seven games since returning and has gone 5-0-0 in his past five starts (including the game in Toronto last week he had to leave after 40 minutes due to illness) with a .955 save percentage.
The head-standing he did against the Habs earned him his fifth consecutive victory in Montreal, where he has never lost a regulation-time contest in seven outings (5-0-2).
The win was also the fifth straight ‘W’ for the Hawks, as they cling to slim playoff hopes. Should this push ultimately end in disappointment, there will be no shortage of good things for Chicago to carry forward. The emergence of Dylan Strome and the growing brilliance of sophomore Alex DeBrincat have completely altered the outlook of the top-six forward crew.
Brendan Perlini — the 22-year-old who came over from Arizona earlier this season with Strome — scored against the Habs for the eighth time in his past seven games. Defenceman Erik Gustafsson, who turned 27 on Thursday, has 29 points in the 30 games Chicago has played in 2019. Strome, DeBrincat and old favourites Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are all producing at better than a point-per-game clip in that period of time.
Kane is third overall in league scoring, while he and DeBrincat are both among the top seven goal scorers in the NHL.
Questions remain, specifically on a blue line that — despite Gustafsson’s development — could use some sprucing up. To that end, the Hawks drafted D-man Adam Boqvist eighth overall last June and could well add another top-10 talent to the mix this summer.
Of course, Chicago would happily make peace with a weaker draft position if it meant more brilliance from Crawford.
Other Weekend Takeaways
• What a roller-coaster three days for the Flyers, who remain on the outer fringes of the Eastern Conference playoff race. After blowing a 5-2 lead in Toronto on Friday, Philly tied its game in Pittsburgh with 18 seconds left in the third on Sunday and won it three ticks before overtime was set to expire. The man who notched the equalizer, James van Reimsdyk, has 10 goals in his past 11 outings. The Flyers — six points back of a wild-card spot — host ninth-place Montreal on Tuesday.
• Calgary also split its games this weekend — pumping the Rangers on Friday, then losing a heavyweight tilt in Winnipeg on Saturday — but got good news when Minnesota lost in overtime to the Islanders on Sunday.
• It’s one game, but Jets fans had to feel emboldened watching Connor Hellebuyck stop 27 of 28 in the 2-1 victory over Calgary. If he can find last year’s form down the stretch, Winnipeg’s chances for the Cup will surge — especially in a Western Conference where questions about goaltending abound.
• Tampa’s 6-3 pounding of Washington on Saturday gave the Bolts a franchise-best 55 wins with 10 games still on the docket (eclipsing the 54 they posted last year). As Tampa aims to capture the championship that’s eluded it, the ridiculous question the word nerd in me must ask is, what will rule this year: The parity that’s become so much of a league calling card you’d think Karl Marx ran the NHL, or the fact the Lightning are so good it’s like they’re almost a parody of an unstoppable squad that will march to a Cup victory?
• Brad Marchand’s celly nod to Conor McGregor got a lot of attention after the Irish fighter dropped the ceremonial puck on what was surely more like St. Patrick’s Day weekend in Boston.
After scoring the game winner, @Bmarch63 gives us his best Conor McGregor impression. pic.twitter.com/yeYvWL8any
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 17, 2019
But as a media member who’s been chided for walking on a logo that’s placed where people walk, I, too, think this is the bigger story.
Red and White Power Rankings
1. Calgary Flames (44-21-7): Matthew Tkachuk’s five-point outing (2-3-5) on Friday gave the Flames consecutive outings with a five-point scorer following Johnny Gaudreau’s 3-3-6 night last Tuesday versus the Devils.
2. Winnipeg Jets (42-25-4): Patrik Laine is having such a weird year. Six goals in his past 39 games, so basically a 12-goal pace over 82 for a guy who seemed like he might win the Rocket Richard Trophy entering this season. Of course, with 29 goals right now, he could still finish the year with close to 40 tallies. Also, he has seven assists in his past nine contests after registering 12 in his previous 62. So, he’s a setup guy now?
3. Toronto Maple Leafs (43-24-5): That escalated quickly. Lucky to beat Philly 7-6 on Friday and pounded by putrid Ottawa 6-2 on Saturday. Worse yet, word is Jake Gardiner’s health is not improving as hoped.
4. Montreal Canadiens (37-28-7): Haven’t scored more than two non-empty-net goals in a game in five outings. Jonathan Drouin has four assists and zero goals in his past 16. Haven’t beaten a team that presently holds a playoff spot since Feb. 19. However this largely pleasant surprise of a season plays out, it’s clear the Canadiens still lack front-line offensive talent.
5. Edmonton Oilers (32-33-7): Eight straight multi-point games for Connor McDavid. If the season was three weeks longer, he’d likely chase down Nikita Kucherov for the scoring title.
6. Vancouver Canucks (30-32-10): Wednesday marks the start of a seven-game homestand for a team that’s given its fans way more than anybody should have expected this year.
7. Ottawa Senators (25-41-6): Nice 20-game run with Ottawa for Anders Nilsson (.917 save percentage), who’s likely earning himself an NHL contract for next year.
In Your Ear
Last Friday on the Tape to Tape podcast, co-host Rory Boylen and I took a deep dive on the Western Conference playoff picture and spoke to NHL.com’s Lou Korac about the incredible second half the St. Louis Blues have turned in. We also delved into the Jack Adams debate, where we pointed out how it’s dumb that the award always goes to the guy leading a team with good goaltending to a bounce-back season right before we decided this year’s winner should be Barry Trotz for leading the New York Islanders — whose goalies have been terrific — to a fantastic bounce-back campaign.
The Week Ahead
• Elias Pettersson’s next point will give him 61, passing Pavel Bure (who was limited to 65 games in 1991-92) for the rookie scoring record in Vancouver. His first chance is Monday night in Chicago. Pettersson’s freshman points-per-game clip is 0.98, ahead of Bure’s 0.92.
• Columbus captured three of four critical points on the weekend, including a must-have, regulation-time victory over Carolina on Friday. Now the Jackets head out for a roadie through Western Canada that starts Tuesday in Calgary.
• Alex Ovechkin is two goals shy of his eighth 50-goal season and first since 2016-17. Washington hosts Tampa Bay on Wednesday in a rematch of Saturday’s Bolts victory and, of course, the 2018 Eastern Conference final.
[relatedlinks]
