Crawford will start Saturday night's Hawks' home opener against the Sabres and will try to make it two solid outings in a row, CSN Chicago reports. Crawford looked solid on Thursday in the Blackhawks' 3-2 shootout win in Dallas by saving 32 of 34 shots on goal. Looking ahead it will be interesting to see if Crawford starts the next four games after Saturday night. The Blackhawks do not have games on back-to-back days until October 25 and 26. The October 25th game will be in St. Louis so you would expect Crawford in goal in that game with an appearance by backup goalie, Antti Raanta, would most likely come at home against Ottawa on October 26. If Saturday night's game against the Sabres is similar to the first two periods on Thursday night against Dallas, Crawford could get a break sooner than the back-to-back games.

Crawford saved 32 of 34 shots on goal on Thursday in the 3-2 Blackhawks' shootout win over the Stars in the season opener, CSN Chicago reports. Crawford helped keep the Blackhawks in the game against Dallas as the team had sloppy play especially in the first two periods. Crawford might be seeing more pressure in the early going of the season with some inexperienced defensemen on the team. The Blackhawks let go and traded a few of its veteran defensemen including Nick Leddy, who was sent to the Islanders last week.

Crawford will get the Opening Night start for the Blackhawks against the Stars, Tracey Myers of CSNChicago.com reports. Crawford probably isn't as talented as some of the league's elite netminders, but because he plays behind perhaps the league's best collection of forwards and defensemen, he should remain a high-end asset for fantasy purposes. He finished with a 32-16-10 record, 2.26 GAA and .917 save percentage in 59 games last season.

Corey Crawford should have an easy time adjusting to goalie coach Jimmy Waite seeing as he used to work with Jimmy's brother, Stephane. Jimmy Waite is replacing Steve Weeks as the team's goalie coach. "I'm my own person, but we do think the same way about goaltending," Jimmy said. "For 20 years, we've been talking goalies all the time, so Stephane and I think the same way." Jimmy places an emphasis on positioning and being selective about when the goaltender is aggressive.

Corey Crawford turned aside 27 shots as he and the Chicago Blackhawks squandered leads three times Sunday night and ended up on the short end of a 5-4 overtime outcome against the visiting Los Angeles Kings in the seventh and deciding game of the Western Conference Final series. Crawford didn't have an outstanding series. He allowed 26 goals in the seven games. He finished the playoffs with a record of 11-8-3, a GAA of 2.53 and a save percentage of .912. Regardless of the way he performed in the Western final, though, he cannot be faulted for Alec Martinez's game-winning goal in overtime Sunday night. The Kings defenseman took a shot that hit Chicago defenseman Nick Leddy, who quickly and inadvertently redirected the puck over Crawford and into the net. For Chicago, the bid to become the first repeat champions in the NHL since the Detroit Red Wings in 1998 came up five wins short.

Corey Crawford will need to come up big on Sunday if the Blackhawks are to get by the Kings and play the Rangers for the Stanley Cup. Crawford's numbers in the Conference finals are mediocre at best. He has allowed 21 goals and sports a .884 save percentage in the six games to date. Kings' goalie Jonathan Quick hasn't done much better. He has allowed 19 goals and has a .886 goals against average. One of these two is going to have to step up. The Hawks are hoping it is Crawford.

Corey Crawford and Jonathan Quick exchanged what appeared to be harsh words at the end of the second period Friday night. It appeared that Quick bumped into Crawford as the teams were exiting the ice and then shook his gloves at the Hawks' goalie as if he were inviting him to engage in fisticuffs. The two exchanged a few words that did not seem friendly and then left the ice. Nothing like a little goalie rivalry.

Corey Crawford stopped 26 of 29 Kings' shot to pace the Hawks to a 4-3 win in Game 6 of their semi-final playoff series. With the win, Crawford boosted his playoff record to 11-7. The Hawks' starting netminder will certainly be in goal when the Hawks face the Kings Sunday night in Chicago.

The Blackhawks don't feel like they've been supporting Corey Crawford very well. "We haven't been playing as well defensively this series, compared to the other two series," said defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson. "It's more a reflection of how the whole team plays, and not just Crow. Especially on the penalty kill, we've been letting in way too many goals. We can make an overall better effort to play defense." Patrick Kane mentioned that Chicago is allowing too much traffic to get in front of Crawford. He has allowed 17 goals in his past four games and won one of them, but before the Western Conference Final he was Conn Smythe Trophy contender.

Corey Crawford made 40 saves and the champions remained alive after Chicago thrust past L.A. 5-4 in double overtime on Wednesday night to prolong their Western Conference Final series with the Kings. Game 5 was an instant classic, a shootout but at the same time a goaltending duel. Both Crawford and his counterpart Jonathan Quick showed signs of strength and weakness during the melee in in Chicago, but in the end the Hawks outlasted the Kings to send the series back to California. Crawford allowed two goals in two minutes in the third period to let L.A. tie the game, but came up with some nifty stops in overtime to give his team a chance.