Detroit coach Scotty Bowman, whose 1,412 regular-season and playoff victories make him the most successful coach in National Hockey League history, has an explanation for the Blackhawks’ dramatic turnaround this season.
“Their defense is better,” said Bowman after the Hawks brought down his mighty Red Wings 5-4 Sunday night before a full house in the United Center. “They got guys like [Phil] Housley and [Jon] Klemm. [Boris] Mironov was hurt last year; now he’s healthy.
“They’ve also added four or five forwards. They’ve changed the team enough to take the next step.”
New backup: The goaltender with the best statistics during the Hawks’ exhibition season was back in Chicago serving as Jocelyn Thibault’s understudy against Detroit.
Michael Leighton was recalled from the Hawks’ Norfolk farm team in the American Hockey League to replace veteran Steve Passmore, who was injured in a collision Friday night in Anaheim when he made his first start and second appearance of the season.
After a magnetic resonance imaging examination, doctors diagnosed it as a slight knee sprain. “I plan on skating by Tuesday,” said Passmore.
Leighton got the word that the Hawks were recalling him after Saturday night’s game with the Wolves. He stopped 23 shots in a 5-2 victory, the Wolves’ first road loss this season.
“I had to get up at 4:30 [a.m.] to get to the Norfolk airport and catch the plane to Chicago,” said Leighton, who arrived at the United Center an hour before the morning skate. “That was a good game for me [Saturday]. The Wolves have a good offensive team and move the puck well.”
Leighton, who concluded his junior career with Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League last season, has gotten his pro career off to an auspicious start. He was selected the AHL’s goaltender of the month in October.
After nine games with the farm team, Leighton is 5-2-2 with a 2.07 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
Leighton, who was a sixth-round selection in the 1999 amateur draft, was 1-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and a 95 percent save percentage to show for his three exhibition stints totaling 60 minutes.
“Definitely, I went to Norfolk with a lot of confidence after playing well here,” said Leighton.
Marathon man: No NHL goalie has played more minutes than Thibault, who has 919 minutes of ice time and has played in all 17 of the Hawks’ games. Passmore relieved him for 33 minutes Oct. 12 in Minnesota and played the first 21 minutes of Friday’s game in Anaheim before injuring the knee in a goal-mouth collision with Mighty Ducks left wing Mike Leclerc.
“Accidents happen,” said Passmore. “He wasn’t trying to take me out.”
