TAMPA, Fla. -- While Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville joked before Friday's contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning that he "only thinks short term," the decision to put Tim Erixon in the lineup for the second straight game could lead to more ice time for Erixon.
"We'll see how it works out," Quenneville said prior to the game.
Erixon was an integral part of the overall team defense that helped earn a 3-0 victory over the Florida Panthers on Thursday. He was plus-1 and took two shots on goal.
"I thought [Erixon and Kyle Cumiskey] both played fine," Quenneville said. "They did a nice job. I thought our defense as a group, our team defense was solid. They were steady. That was part of our success last night."
Coming over from the Columbus Blue Jackets in a trade for Jeremy Morin on Dec. 14, Erixon had played just two games so far in 2015. Erixon has seven shots on goal with the Hawks and made the most of his first appearance since Jan. 18 and anticipates building off Thursday’s performance.
"I try to keep it simple and build from that," Erixon said when asked about balancing a large dose of adrenaline with playing within himself. "You want to contribute and show what you can do, but you have to make sure you don't overdo it. The biggest thing is just sticking with your game. My goal [on Thursday] was to be good on both ends. I felt it went pretty good, pretty solid."
Notes: After stopping all 20 shots Thursday, Corey Crawford got the night off against the Lightning in favor of Scott Darling. With the Blackhawks having a relatively "light March schedule," Quenneville anticipates Crawford getting a bulk of the time moving forward. … Michal Rozsival is a healthy scratch for second straight game. ... Johnny Oduya (upper body) is about a week away from returning to the ice, according to Quenneville.
