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Corey Crawford gets Game 1 start, says he’s done with Round 1 talk

Corey Crawford gets Game 1 start, says he’s done with Round 1 talk

Corey Crawford is nothing if not patient. All he had to do was wait until Scott Darling fell apart like he did in the first two games of their series against the Nashville Predators, and the Chicago Blackhawks net was his again.

Crawford was named the starter in Game 1 of the Blackhawks’ Central Division championship series against the Minnesota Wild scheduled for later this week. He entered Game 6 in relief of Scott Darling (3 goals, 12 shots, 11:16 TOI), sparked a rally and made 13 saves on 13 shots to close out the Preds.

Earlier in the series, it was Darling who replace Crawford in Game 1 of the series and sparked a Blackhawks’ rally for a double-overtime win. Crawford got a chance at redemption in Game 2, but gave up six goals in the loss and then handed the crease to Darling for the next four games.

But now it’s Crawford again, as the guy signed for $6 million per season against the cap through 2019 gets the start over the guy who earned $570,000 this year. Yeah, we know: Spoiler warning...

“Great response in a very important game for us,” coach Joel Quenneville said of Crawford, via CSN Chicago. “All of a sudden, tight game, game was on the line and he did everything he could. Great win for him and for us. He exited the series on a positive note. I’m sure it wasn’t easy watching and doing everything to get the chance he got but he certainly put us in the position now where it’s is net, so let’s go.”

Crawford’s taking that “let’s go” think to heart, as he told reporters on Monday that he’s done talking about that whole “losing your job to the backup goalie whose heroic efforts propelled your team to the next round while you mostly watched from the bench” thing.

From ESPN Chicago:

"I think I've answered enough questions about that," he said. "It's done. It's done. We're moving on. Me and Scotty are both pushing each other. We want to push each other to be at our best. We're just going to do the same thing we did all year."

Crawford was 32-20-5 with a .924 save percentage for the Hawks in the regular season. He was 2-2 against the Wild this season with a .948 save percentage and a 2.02 GAA.

More importantly, the Blackhawks have eliminated the Wild in two straight postseasons and Crawford gave up two goals or less in eight of the 11 games they played.

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