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 Crawford recorded his second consecutive shutout and improved his
December save percentage to .957 while making 30 saves in a 4-0 win
over the Vancouver Canucks at the United Center on Sunday. He had a
.891 save percentage in 10 games in November.
"I started out pretty strong (on the season), but kind of dipped a
little bit," said Crawford, who has allowed a total of two goals in
his last four starts and has four shutouts on the season. "I'm able
to get back and have that focus and that preparation and that battle
throughout the whole game."
The Blackhawks (17-10-4) provided all the offense Crawford would
need when defenseman Duncan Keith scored a power-play goal at 11:51
of the first period. The Blackhawks boosted their power-play
percentage to 22.8, which is fifth in the league. It was just the
second power-play goal the Canucks had allowed in December.
Blackhawks right winger Patrick Kane extended his career-high point
streak to 26 games with a secondary assist on Keith's goal. The
streak is the longest in the NHL since Mats Sundin had a 30-game
point streak for the Quebec Nordiques during the 1992-93 season.
Kane has 17 goals and 24 assists during the streak.
"Without talking too much about it, (we know} there's kind of a game
inside the game," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said of Kane's
streak. "I think we're all having fun watching it and enjoying the
different fashions he's been able to keep moving forward.
Everybody's rooting for him as well."
The Blackhawks added to their lead with three goals in the third
period. Center Dennis Rasmussen provided them a 2-0 cushion at 11:36
when he tapped in the puck after Canucks goalie Ryan Miller was
unable to hold onto a shot by left winger Bryan Bickell. Right
winger Andrew Shaw and left winger Brandon Mashinter scored in the
final minute. Shaw's goal was an empty-netter.
The defeat wasn't how the Canucks (11-12-8) sought to begin a
six-game road trip, but Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins continued
to see progress in his team.
"I think our structure has been good," Desjardins said. "We decided
we needed to get better structure, and we've been working at it. I
think it was good tonight. That's a good team. I thought our
structure helped us in the game."
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Canucks center Henrik Sedin also took some positives from the game.
"I thought we hung in there again, like we did against the (New
York) Rangers at home (on Dec. 9)," Sedin said. "Like I said, maybe
we didn't play our best game, but most of the time we kept them to
the outside and our PK was good for the most part. If you're in the
game against a tough team like this on the road late in the third,
you have to be happy with that. We had our chance, but we just
couldn't score."
The Canucks had opportunities to get back into the game, but they
couldn't capitalize on their power plays. The Canucks had six shots
on goal on three power plays.
Miller had 26 saves on 29 shots. He hadn't allowed more than two
goals in his previous two starts.
The Blackhawks improved to 12-3-1 at home this season. They are
5-7-3 on the road. Sunday was the second game of a four-game
homestand, which matches the Blackhawks' longest of the season.
NOTES: Blackhawks RW Marian Hossa played in his 1,200 career NHL
game. He ranks 10th among active players in games played. ...
Blackhawks D Michal Rozsival was a healthy scratch for the second
consecutive game. He had played in 13 consecutive games before being
scratched against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. ... Canucks RW Derek
Dorsett played in Sunday's game after missing practice on Saturday
due to personal reasons. ... The Canucks were without D Dan Hamhuis
who suffered a facial fracture after being struck by a puck in
Vancouver's last game on Dec. 9. He underwent surgery on Friday and
is expected to be out at least two months.
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