Nov. 01--TORONTO -- While the rest of the Blackhawks went to Toronto, Scott Darling traveled in a different direction.
Darling, who was in goal the last three games and posted sparkling numbers, was reassigned to Rockford on Friday. The Lemont native gave the Hawks something to think about, but his departure means Antti Raanta has held on to his job as the No. 2 goalie behind Corey Crawford.
With Crawford shelved with an upper-body injury, Darling, 25, went 2-1-0 with a.933 save percentage and 1.98 goals-against average. Darling was in goal during the Hawks' 5-4 shootout victory over the Senators on Thursday night and afterward, coach Joel Quenneville called him "a battler."
"(Darling) came into our organization out of camp and was a big surprise for us," Quenneville said. "It's been a good story for us."
The chapter containing Darling's departure means the Hawks will head into back-to-back games this weekend with two goalies who haven't played in a week or more. Crawford, who hasn't appeared since Oct. 18, is expected to start Saturday against the Maple Leafs, with Raanta likely to get the call against the Jets on Sunday night at the United Center. Raanta's last game was last Saturday against the Blues in St. Louis.
On Thursday, Crawford declared himself "100 percent. Everything feels back to normal."
On track? After combining for six goals in four games, the Hawks exploded for four against the Senators. Every goal came from in close, something the Hawks said they would focus on to get out of their scoring slump.
"A lot of goals around the net, a lot of ugly goals," winger Patrick Sharp said. "That's kind of what we were talking about all week. Hopefully, there's more of that to come."
The belief around the dressing room was that once the Hawks did break through, they could sustain it.
"You see the confidence growing in a lot of players," Sharp said. "That's all it takes. Sometimes you bounce one in, you get an ugly one and you start feeling good about yourself."
Jonathan Toews, who had two of the goals, agreed that the drought could be over.
"You're going to get a couple of ugly ones and finally you feel like you can get bounces and pucks can start going in for you again," Toews said. "We'll build off that offense."
Hossa redux: As thrilled as Marian Hossa was at reaching 1,000 career points with a goal Thursday, his teammates were equally pleased.
"It's awesome," Toews said. "He just keeps working and keeps getting better and better at this stage of his career. It's an honor to be out there, especially when you're on the ice at the same time he scores the goal. ... He's a class act and one of the best to play the game."
