CHICAGO _ Tomas Tatar's deflection of a Jeff Petry slap shot with 77 seconds remaining in the third period lifted the Canadiens to a 3-2 win and handed the Blackhawks their seventh straight loss.
The Hawks fought back from an early two-goal deficit and had plenty of opportunities to score in the final period but couldn't get the go-ahead goal. They have lost nine of 10 games and 18 of their last 21 while dropping to 9-17-5.
The Canadiens went up 1-0 with 13 minutes, 55 seconds left in the first on Max Domi's rebound goal. Former Hawk Andrew Shaw was credited with an assist when the puck grazed him on the way to Domi but it was Shaw screening Crawford that contributed the most towards the goal.
Crawford, a Montreal native, came into the game with an 8-1-2 record and 1.54 goals-against-average in 11 career games against the Canadiens.
A Shea Weber slap shot 1:31 later made it 2-0 and the Hawks were again playing to type. It marked the 10th straight game the Blackhawks gave up the first goal, and 9th time in the last 10 that they had given up at least two goals in the first period.
But just as they've been falling behind, they've also been keeping games close and Patrick Kane's power play goal with 59 seconds left in the first made it 2-1. The second period was pretty quiet until Kane's second goal of the game _ and 15th of the season _ tied it with 7:05 remaining.
Kane came into the game with just two goals in his last 18 games after starting the season with 11 goals in the first 11 games.
Both teams had great power play opportunities in the third period but couldn't convert. The Hawks had six straight minutes with a man advantage after Jordie Benn took a four-minute high-sticking penalty just as a previous penalty ended.
The Canadiens had a 5-on-3 for 55 seconds when Connor Murphy took a high-sticking while Brandon Saad was already off for interference.
