Bit of a rarity for Chicago on Friday -- with Corey Crawford still nursing an injury, Scott Darling will make consecutive starts when the ‘Hawks take on the Jets in Winnipeg.
Darling, who stopped 26 of 29 shots in a 3-2 loss to Philly on Wednesday, hasn’t been very busy this year. Crawford has been great and a real workhorse for Chicago, which has resulted in Darling making just 19 appearances (14 of which were starts).
All told, the 27-year-old is 6-6-2 this season, with a .912 save percentage and 2.60 GAA.
As for Crawford, the ‘Hawks weren’t offering much as to injury specifics (surprise!)
Q wouldn't go into specifics on Crawford, whether injury was suffered in practice or in a game. Asked if he could play Sunday: "We'll see."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) March 18, 2016
Crawford did struggle in his last two outings prior to being shelved with the injury, giving up nine goals on 45 shots in losses to Dallas and Los Angeles.
For the Jets, Ondrej Pavelec is in goal.
Elsewhere...
-- Craig Anderson will take on Chad Johnson when Ottawa visits Buffalo.
-- Braden Holtby will be in goal when Washington and head coach Barry Trotz host Trotz’s former team, Nashville. The Preds haven’t announced a starter yet.
-- Colorado, minus the services of Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog, will need a big game from Semyon Varlamov tonight in Calgary. Joni Ortio goes for the Flames.
-- Vancouver will give Jacob Markstrom the nod tonight in Edmonton. No word yet on an Oilers starter.
-- Looks as though Jonas Gustavsson will give Tuukka Rask the night off in Anaheim, while the Ducks are set to start Frederik Andersen.