Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford will start Saturday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets after missing the team’s past eight games with a left leg injury suffered at a concert, coach Joel Quenneville announced after practice Thursday.
During his absence, Scott Darling and Antti Raanta split time between the pipes. The two won seven of the eight games, the lone loss being a one-goal defeat to the New York Islanders.
Darling went 3-1-0 and stopped 124-of-132 shots for a .939 save percentage since being recalled on Dec. 2. He is 5-2-0 with a 1.97 goals-against average and .937 save percentage for the Blackhawks this season.
Chicago reassigned Darling to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL on Tuesday to make room for Crawford. Raanta started the last two games for the Blackhawks and made 26 saves on 29 shots in a 5-3 win over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.
Crawford was 12-5-1 with a 1.87 goals-against average and .929 save percentage prior to going down with the injury.
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