Having Ray Emery become the Chicago Blackhawks starting goaltender at this point of the season might not have been in the team’s original plans, but that is exactly how it is shaping up in the Windy City.
Since he replaced the struggling Corey Crawford after the first period in the game against Toronto this past Wednesday, Emery has helped the Blackhawks' roller-coaster season get back on track in a winning direction.
Trailing 3-2 heading into the second period of that game, Emery held the fort as his teammates clawed back with four unanswered goals en route to a 5-4 win. The win snapped a three-game losing streak, which came on the heels of a four-game winning streak, which came on the heels of a nine-game losing streak - quite the up-and-down month of hockey, indeed.
With the Blackhawks clinging to sixth place in the Western Conference, the win over Toronto was an important one as the team continued a challenging three-game road trip which made its second stop in Canada’s Capital.
For Friday night’s meeting with the surging Senators, head coach Joel Quenneville decided to stick with the 29-year-old Emery, who would be facing the team in which he enjoyed the finest years of his career as a member of the Senators' organization from 2002-2008.
Emery quieted the same fans that used to cheer for him with a 25-save performance in what was a picture-perfect way to start the club’s road trip.
"It feels great," Emery told the Associated Press after the game. "We're in a battle and we know they are too. We needed that one, especially our last few games on the road we've had a tough time and to come out and outplay them like we did in the first two and then really hunker down defensively in the third.”
Having won two straight starts for the first time since January, Emery was once again pegged as the team’s starter for Sunday afternoon’s showdown with the Detroit Red Wings, and once again he delivered. Facing the league’s top home team, Emery stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced to help lead the Blackhawks to their third straight win and second straight victory over Detroit.
Picking up his 12th, 13th and 14th wins of the season, Emery has gone from the role of a struggling backup to that of a red-hot starter in a matter of five days and three games.
Despite continuing to play without captain Jonathan Toews, Chicago can at least start to feel a little better about their goaltending situation going forward.
For the time being that is, because as we’ve seen throughout the year, the Chicago Blackhawks roller-coaster season can go down just as fast as it can go up.
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