Oct. 28--Scott Darling earned himself another start in goal for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Coming off a tremendous performance during his NHL debut Sunday night against the Ottawa Senators, Darling will be back in goal when the Hawks face the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night at the United Center.
"Certainly, his play is the reason he's getting right back in there," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said following Tuesday's morning skate. "Rock solid every time he's been in the net for us, from preseason scrimmages to exhibition games to last game (and) he did well in Rockford. He's played very well. A chance to come right back."
Darling made 32 saves against the Senators and will get a chance to follow that up against the Ducks, who came into the game with the most points in the Western Conference. The Lemont native is the Hawks' third goaltender behind the iniured Corey Crawford and backup Antti Raanta. Raanta had started three consecutive games spelling Crawford before Darling was in net for the second of back-to-back games.
"This is hockey," Raanta said. "Scott played a great game on Sunday, so he got a win. That's how it goes here, if you win the game you get a start. So I'll just have to put the work suit on and go back to the practice and work harder and get better all the time. It's just a matter of time when I get that good 60 minutes, what I'm looking for and get those easy goals out of my game."
Meanwhile, Crawford was on the ice for the morning skate while he recovers from an upper-body injury.
"I'm getting pretty close," Crawford said. "First practice with the team (Tuesday). I practiced a couple of times in the last two days and I feel better. Getting there."
Crawford said he would travel with the team on its two-game road trip that begins Thursday night in Ottawa against the Senators. The veteran said his return to action, "could be as early as Ottawa but really it's day-by-day right now."
