Scanlon Sports Week of 4/20

As I mentioned last week, I will now be talking about the Blackhawks playoff push.

The Blackhawks first game of the series against the Nashville Predators started as bad as they could've imagined.  The predators scored 3 of their first 12 shots, forcing the coach to pull Corey Crawford the starting goalie.  Scott Darling, an NHL journey man, came off the bench to make his postseason debut.  Sharp, Toews, and Hjalmarsson each scored a goal in the 2nd to bring the game to a tie.  A scoreless 3rd brought the game to two overtimes which was ended when Duncan Keith put one in the back of the net for the sudden death win.  By that time, back up goalie Darling had faced 42 shots and blocked every one.

Even after Darling's performance, the Blackhawk's coach decided to start Crawford.  The game was close, 3-2, until the 3rd period when Crawford let 3 goals in only 3 minutes apart.  The final score ended up being an ugly 6-2.  Crawford's struggles come as a surprise as the Blackhawk's were second in the season for goals allowed at 2.3.  Should be interesting to see how the rest of the series plays out and how coach deals with the goalie situation.