Chicago Blackhawks: Oshie May Have Delivered 'Defining Blow' to Corey Crawford

Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford left Thursday's contest with the St. Loius Blues with what was termed an upper-body injury by coach Joel Quenneville. Quenneville stressed that this injury was unrelated to Crawford's previous injury last month, saying the following to reporters, including ESPNChicago.com's Scott Powers, after Chicago's 3-0 victory:

"

I don't think there was a defining moment or blow.

"

The smoking gun may lie in a play midway through the opening period.

T.J. Oshie takes a pass out of the St. Louis zone, skates along the boards and heads to the net. He gets around Duncan Keith and is stopped with a poke check by Crawford. Watch the video as Oshie comes across the crease.

It looks like Crawford took Oshie's left knee to the side of his head.

Crawford remained in the game and stopped all six shots he faced in the opening period but had marked difficulty getting off the ice as the teams went to the locker rooms. Ray Emery stepped in and handled the Blues the rest of the way.

Quenneville is probably correct when he said that the injury was unrelated to the one likely sustained in a collision with Anaheim's Bobby Ryan two weeks ago. It could well be that a collision with Oshie has resulted in some brand new head trauma for Chicago's starting goalie.

This truly looks to be an accidental collision. I'm not piling the blame on Oshie in this instance. The guy was trying to score and Crawford came out to make a play. No malicious intent, but just the same it looks like significant contact was made.

Crawford is going to be re-evaluated Friday morning. We could see a call up from Rockford in the next few hours. I don't expect Crawford to start Friday's game with Columbus and would not be surprised if he isn't even on the bench.

Oshie was coming in pretty hard. If his knee made contact with Crawford's head, it could mean real trouble for the young netminder.