CHICAGO – Corey Crawford never had won a playoff series going into this year's postseason. His stats the past two years were far from stellar, with a 5-8 record and a goals-against average that didn't dip below 2.21.
But in the Western Conference quarterfinals against Minnesota, the Blackhawks goaltender had the best postseason series of his career. Crawford topped the Wild 5-1 Thursday, making 21 saves. He leads the NHL in goals-against average and saves percentage in the playoffs.
His scoreless streak in regulation play in the series was stopped at 86 minutes, 40 seconds just past the halfway mark of the second period on a goal by Wild center Torrey Mitchell.
"It feels great, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us," Crawford said. "I've always been pretty confident, this whole group is confident. I'm seeing the puck good. The team in general is playing good."
Crawford's success is just one of the signs that the Blackhawks are ready to go on a deep run in these playoffs, the likes of which they haven't seen since winning the Stanley Cup championship in 2010.
Not only is Chicago getting outstanding goaltending, but most facets of its game are clicking. One of the biggest assets the Blackhawks had in the first-round series was its depth. Players skating on the third and fourth lines accounted for nearly half the team's goals with seven.
"We played pretty good all five games, our goalie played unreal and we have different guys stepping up," said forward Marian Hossa, who scored two goals. "It's great to see because it shows how much depth we've got."
On the second line, Patrick Sharp showed he's recovered from injury, scoring five goals against Minnesota after totaling just six during the regular season in which he missed 14 games from March 9 to April 7.
