Corey Crawford quickly regains championship form, sets Blackhawks record

Lost amidst the coach’s challenge chaos of the Chicago Blackhawks’ Game 2 win at the St. Louis Blues was goalie Corey Crawford’s career achievement. 

It was playoff win No. 46 for him, which moved him past Tony Esposito for first place on the franchise leaderboard. The remarkable part is that Espo needed 14 playoff seasons to amass the total; Crawford’s needed seven, thanks to two Stanley Cup championship runs and another to the conference finals.

“It’s amazing what he’s done,” Marian Hossa said, via the Sun-Times. “Tony Esposito is a big icon in Chicago and a legend. Huge for Corey. Missing three-and-a-half weeks, seems like he didn’t miss a beat.”

Crawford entered this series with something to prove. First, that he was fully recovered from an injury that kept him out from March 14 through the Blackhawks’ April 9 game against the Columbus Blue Jackets; and that the nightmarish opening round he had against the Nashville Predators last season was an anomaly.

Please recall Crawford getting pulled in Game 1 last year against Nashville, and then losing Game 2 in giving up six goals, and then seeing backup Scott Darling get the start in Game 3. It seems like ancient history now, after Crawford backstopped them to the Cup, but that was the last opening round series he played. And it was bad to the point where people were wondering if Crawford would be a "salary cap casualty."

This time, he’s been stellar: Crawford has given up three goals on 49 shots, one of them a deflection off his defenseman and the other a meaningless tally at the end of Game 2. He’s looked sharp, no rust and locked in.

From the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

“He’s been great in the first two games,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Getting that game in Columbus really helped him. I thought he practiced well going into the series. … He looked sharp, quick, handled the puck well. Exactly what you want.”

“It always takes a little bit of time to get back in routines and game shape after you’ve been out for a while,” defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said, “but Crow is a gamer and he likes to compete and that’s what it’s all about in the playoffs and he’s one of those guys that really enjoys playoff hockey and big moments. He always rises to the occasion, so I’m not too surprised, but it’s impressive to see how fast he’s come back.”

The Blackhawks have needed Crawford to be great from the start with Brian Elliott having the series of his life on the other end of the ice for the Blues, entering Sunday's Game 3 in Chicago.

Crow’s been up to the task so far, and in the process has become the winningest postseason goalie in Blackhawks history. There’s no telling how many more he’ll add to that total. 

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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