Corey Crawford saves Blackhawks’ season with vintage playoff performance

With their backs against the wall, the Blackhawks needed to be at their best in Game 4 against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday. They weren’t, but the one player they needed to be was: Corey Crawford.

You don’t have to look very hard at the box score to see why the Blackhawks won. Crawford stopped 48 of 49 shots for a save percentage of .980, putting on a vintage playoff performance when his team needed him most.

“He stood on his head and he’s probably the biggest reason why we won this game,” Drake Caggiula said following a 3-1 win. “That’s why he’s won Cups before. He’s been there, he’s done it. He put the team on his back today and gave us a lot of extra energy.”

“He was outstanding,” echoed Matthew Highmore, who scored his third goal of the postseason. “He made countless saves, whether it be rebound chances, slot shots, backdoor. He was great for us, just settling us down back there. He was just fantastic. That’s what a good goalie does, and he certainly is that.”

The Golden Knights finished with a season-high 96 shot attempts, 41 scoring chances and 14 high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. Nineteen of the 49 shots on goal came from the slot, according to Sportlogiq. It was the most lopsided game of the series.

And yet, the Blackhawks found a way to win anyways thanks to Crawford.

“There were a couple that I caught late but we had some big blocks too on our [penalty kill],” Crawford said of his puck tracking. “If we’re going to get back in this series, we’re going to need a lot more of those. It’s just nice to get the first one to get a little momentum, a little belief.”

Crawford’s 48 saves are the third-most by a Blackhawks goaltender when facing elimination since the 1955-56 campaign, according to the NHL’s PR. The only goaltender with more: Tony Esposito (53 in Game 3 of the 1975 preliminary round and 49 in Game 4 of the 1970 semi-final).

Crawford also picked up his 52nd career playoff win, surpassing Boston’s Tuukka Rask for 19th all-time. But most importantly, No. 50 in red kept his team’s season alive and the Blackhawks will live to fight another day. 

“It’s as good as he’s ever been,” Duncan Keith said. “They had a lot of shots and he made himself big every time. Wasn’t a whole lot of rebounds laying around, either. That was a big part of that. He was our best player tonight.”

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