Oct. 30--OTTAWA, Ontario -- Scott Darling will make his third consecutive start in goal for the Chicago Blackhawks when they face off against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
The Lemont native got the call over starter Corey Crawford, who said he is "100 percent" recovered from an upper-body injury and backup Antti Raanta.
"(Darling) came into our organization and out of camp kind of was a big surprise for us," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said after the morning skate at the Canadian Tire Centre. "He gives us some size, presence, looks square, looks confident, very comfortable (and) handles the puck well.(He's) coming off two nice starts for us. It's been a good story for us so far."
Crawford, who split time taking shots with Raanta during the skate, said he is ready to go after missing five games.
"I feel really good, 100 percent right now," Crawford said. "I'm going to wait for the coach's call. I feel good with timing. I'm reading shots pretty well. Sliding across, pusing for stuff. Everything feels back to normal.
"Obviously, I wanted to play," Crawford added. "I'm just going to wait, practice hard and wait until he says I'm going."
Quenneville said that would be Saturday night against the Maple Leafs in Toronto. Crawford was scheduled to serve as backup to Darling on Thursday, leaving Raanta as the odd-man out. The team is expected to make a roster move possibly as soon as after the game against the Senators.
"We don't envision having three goalies around here longer than needed," Quenneville said.
The fact Raanta has watched from the bench the last three games is a pretty good indicator he could be headed to Rockford of the AHL, but Quenneville said of Tuesday's scratch, "I don't think that's got anything to with the decision we're going to make after (Thursday's) game."
Meanwhile, Marian Hossa is sitting on 998 career points and the veteran winger would love nothing more than hit the 1,000 milestone in the city where he broke into the NHL during the 1997-98 season. Hossa played six-plus seasons with the Senators.
"My focus is still on the game," said Hossa, who will be appearing in his 1,100th career game. "It's always nice to come to Ottawa where everything started. I know there's a good chance to make the milestone in this building, which would be great, but the first thing is we have to win the hockey game."
