Marty Turco to start vs. Canucks on Friday

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Marty Turco will be back in goal for the Blackhawks when they face the NHL-leading Canucks Friday at Rogers Arena.

Coach Joel Quenneville announced his decision Thursday after a late practice in Vancouver. Quenneville isn’t one to change things after victories and he was happy with what Turco did in the Hawks’ 7-4 victory against the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Tuesday.

“He’s got a couple wins [in a row] and we’ll give him a chance to get rolling,” Quenneville said. “He’s coming off an important win for us as well [against Columbus]. He got some confidence off of it.”

That Turco got the start against the Blue Jackets was a surprise at first. Rookie Corey Crawford appeared to have a lock on the No. 1 job, which he took in November when Turco struggled.

Crawford was hard on himself after back-to-back home losses to the Flyers and Wild before the All-Star break.

Despite allowing four goals to the Blue Jackets, Quenneville liked how Turco battled in a wild, back-and-forth game. Turco came through with a handful of key stops during quality chances (see below).

“We need both guys and we need both guys playing well down the stretch,” Quenneville said. “It’s good that Marty gets a chance to come right back in there.”

Quenneville did take into consideration that Crawford allowed just one goal in a dominating 7-1 win over over the Canucks in Vancouver on Nov. 20. But there was more to his decision.

“We need everybody playing their best game against these guys,” Quenneville said. “They’ve got a lot of things going for them. There is always other things when you evaluate the whole situation.”

It’s about who is winning, and right now that’s Turco, who has won his last two starts.

“Their play will dictate a lot of things we do,” Quenneville said. “I would love to have both goalies playing great night in, night out. I love to make tough decisions like that.”