Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford relieved and happy for Triple OT victory - NHL Playoffs
Playing for nearly two hours straight may be easy for other players who are continuously being rotated in and out of the ice, but for the goalies on both ends, they have to stay out constantly and cannot blink even for a second.
For 112:08 straight minutes, with 52:08 of that just being pure overtime play when everything is at its peak of intensity since any goal could signal the winner of the match, Corey Crawford was overjoyed after realising that his team had won after Andrew Shaw’s heroic goal.
"It's, uh ... it's a little exhausting," Crawford said. "It was tiring. I'm not going to lie. I just tried to tell myself to make the next save and we're going to score on our next shot. That's pretty much what I was telling myself the whole OT."
Corey Crawford faced 54 shots throughout that duration and amazingly blocked 51 while just letting three go through him. It certainly takes dedication and knowing that he may be able to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to another championship. They managed to do it for the first time in over 40 years back in 2010 and are certainly working for another chance in just three years.
"Nope, not one bit, man," Crawford said, when asked about whether he doubted their ability to score. "My job is to keep it out, so I don't want to start doubting myself in OT. In OT, you've got to make the next save or else it's over, so [you] just focus on everything and make sure the next one doesn't go in."
Crawford was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks back in round-two of the 2003 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft. The 28-year-old native of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, has now been in the professional league for six straight seasons now, all with the Chicago Blackhawks. Out of those six seasons, he has four appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
With Game 2 on Saturday, Corey Crawford is certainly going to rest up and be prepared to go at it all over again for sure. Game 2 is at 8 PM ET.
Tags: