The Chicago Blackhawks’ road to the playoffs just became a lot more difficult.
As if it wasn’t tough enough to grab a spot in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, the Blackhawks will now have to try and do so without the services of Corey Crawford.
The 33-year-old netminder last played December 23rd against New Jersey and that could very well be his final game of the year. According to a report from Mark Lazerus, he’s been dealing with vertigo-like symptoms and his season could be in jeopardy.
That’s a significant blow for a Chicago team that relied quite heavily on their starting goaltender. They have issues – especially defensively – and Crawford was able to mask a lot of them.
Despite playing behind a Blackhawks team that ranks 23rd in 5v5 chance suppression, and 27th when it comes to limiting high-danger looks, Crawford sits 3rd among 29 eligible goaltenders (1,000+ minutes) with a sparkling .934 save percentage.
That’s a far cry from his expected save percentage of .919, meaning his numbers are drastically better than what you’d expect to see from a goaltender who faced the shots he did.
The positive difference between his actual and expected save percentage at 5v5 is among the largest in the league (data via Corsica).
Prior to going down with Vertigo, Crawford was in the midst of a Vezina-caliber season and that still wasn’t enough to put the Blackhawks in a comfortable playoff position.
Now, a perennial contender will be forced to rely on a guy with a sub .900 save percentage through 25 career games (Anton Forsberg), a 32-year-old journeyman who debuted just three weeks ago (Jeff Glass), or deal from a position of weakness and trade assets for an almost certainly mediocre stop-gap who wouldn’t hold a candle to Crawford.
Either way, the Blackhawks’ chances of accomplishing anything in the playoffs – if they make it at all – are very slim if they’re without their star goaltender. And it looks like they will be.
Written by Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell)