Corey Crawford out 2-3 weeks after appendectomy

PHILADELPHIA — Scott Darling’s first thought when he woke up to the news that Corey Crawford had been taken to a Philadelphia hospital for an emergency appendectomy wasn’t about the fate of his Blackhawks or even his own role, but of his friend.

“For me, it stinks because he’s a good friend, and I want him to be well and be able to play and help the team,” Darling said after the Hawks’ 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Hawks will have to manage without Crawford, who inarguably has been their best player this season, for up to 11 games, as the goaltender recovers from the appendectomy. Joel Quenneville said Crawford’s appendix did not burst, and team doctor Michael Terry said Crawford should be able to return to “restricted hockey activities” in two to three weeks.

Every patient and every surgery is different, but there are several precedents that can offer some insight into what Crawford faces. Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf missed four games after an appendectomy last season; Tampa Bay’s Ryan Callahan returned to practice just three days after his in May of 2015; and Patrick Sharp returned to training camp 18 days after an appendectomy in September of 2011.

The last NHL goalie to have an appendectomy was the Blues’ Chris Mason in October of 2008. He missed 10 days of practice, and played his first game 13 days after the operation. Seven days after his surgery for a burst — he used the term “exploded” — appendix in October of 2008, Mason decided it was time to see if he was ready to play again. So he strapped on all his gear, skated to his net in front of assistant coach Rick Wamsley, and hoped for the best.

“I was down in the butterfly and he just started blasting shots right at my incision wound on my stomach to see if I could take it,” Mason recalled in a phone interview on Saturday. “I was ready to go.”

Mason spent three days in the hospital, and was in considerable discomfort during that time. Simply moving around was difficult. But a day after he returned home, he suddenly felt “drastically” better. His energy returned and so did his appetite, which was key considering he lost about 15 pounds.

Mason said he had no long-term effects from the surgery.

“I was ready like two days after I started practicing,” Mason said. “The only thing that was a bit uncomfortable was if I dove out and really stretched my incision — I could feel that. That was uncomfortable. But I was good to go.”

Crawford’s absence thrusts Darling back into the starting role for a while. Darling suffered his first loss on Saturday, but has been solid this season and has been particularly strong when he has the net to himself. He went 3-1-0 during a brief stretch as the main guy in December of 2014, led the Hawks to a first-round victory over Nashville after taking the net from Crawford in April of 2015, and went 6-3-2 down the stretch last season when Crawford was out with a head injury.

Darling said he feels it’s “easier” to be the starter rather than the backup.

“It’s mentally way less stressful,” he said.

The Hawks likely will call up 29-year-old goaltender Lars Johansson, who is 6-7-1 with a .911 save percentage and 2.63 goals-against average with the Rockford IceHogs this season. But without Crawford — whom Darling deemed “the best goalie in the league” alongside Montreal’s Carey Price — it’ll be Darling’s net for a while.

“We have plenty of confidence in Darls,” defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said. “We all know how well he can play, and I think he’s more than ready for an opportunity to play some games in a row.”