The Chicago Blackhawks re-wrote some NHL records with a points streak during the regular season. Now they need to defy the odds by winning three straight games against the Detroit Red Wings in their second-round series.
While frustrations are running high, starting goalie Corey Crawford provided some confident words about the team’s chances of coming back to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Mark Lazerus.
“Definitely,” Crawford said. “We’ve had streaks before.”
The 28-year-old netminder knows from experience.
He rode that hot streak with Ray Emery during the season and was often brilliant when the Blackhawks nearly stormed back from a 3-0 series deficit against the Vancouver Canucks in a first-round series from the 2011 playoffs.
On the other hand, some will note that the Blackhawks haven’t advanced to the conference finals since they won the Stanley Cup in 2010 and that the franchise hasn’t beaten the Red Wings in a playoff series since 1992, so history isn’t totally on their side.
Still, it might be uplifting to hear the No. 1 goalie’s optimism with their captain seething in a big way.