last time," said Pillar. "Coming in, I walked in on eg

CHICAGO -- Corey Crawford was there every time. Slap shots, wristers, backhands and tips, he stopped each one of them. The Chicago Blackhawks needed a rebound game from their goaltender, and he delivered in a big way. Crawford made 34 saves in his third career post-season shutout, and the Blackhawks got back into their playoff series with the St. Louis Blues with a 2-0 victory in Game 3 on Monday night. "Im just going shot by shot," Crawford said. "Its all I could do the whole game was worry about the next one and focus on the next shot and stop that. I dont want anything else going through my mind through that hockey game." Jonathan Toews and Marcus Kruger scored as the defending Stanley Cup champions bounced back after a pair of overtime losses in St. Louis. Toews 21st post-season goal was only the second score by a Blackhawks forward in the series. "Three games in a row. Its been a very intense series and extremely close," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. Ryan Miller shook off another slow start and finished with 23 saves, but Toews shot at 4:10 of the first went through the goaltenders legs and was the only score for most of the game. "Its not a good goal. Well leave it at that," Miller said. It was quite a turnaround for Crawford, who was upset with his play after Saturdays 4-3 loss. Barret Jackmans winning goal in Game 2 went through Crawford, prompting the goaltender to say he had to play better for Chicago to win. Quenneville met with Crawford on Sunday, and he responded with one of the best games of his career. "We have a lot of one-on-one meetings throughout the season, but we get ramped up at playoff time," said Quenneville, a former NHL defenceman. "I generally stay away from the goalies. We chatted. Basically I was commending him on accepting that responsibility (for the loss)." Crawford drew chants of "Co-rey! Co-rey from the capacity crowd at the United Center. He was helped by a sound performance by Duncan Keith and Chicagos defencemen, who stepped up without the suspended Brent Seabrook. The Blackhawks killed three St. Louis power plays, while the Blues penalty-kill unit went 4 for 4, including a 5-on-3 disadvantage in the second. "We knew this was going to be a long series, but we really played hard, we really played well," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We did a lot of the things we needed to do to win the hockey game, but youve got to give their goaler credit. He was good, especially late." The Blues, who scored tying goals late in regulation in each of the first two games, pulled Miller with 57 seconds left, but the Blackhawks held on. Kruger stuffed home an empty-netter in the final seconds. Game 4 is Wednesday night. Each team was without a key contributor after Seabrook wiped out Blues centre David Backes with a big hit in Game 2. The five-minute major and game misconduct penalty for Seabrook led to Vladimir Tarasenkos tying power-play goal with 6.4 seconds left. Seabrook was suspended for three games by the NHL, putting Sheldon Brookbank in the lineup for the first time in the series. Playing with Keith, Brookbank turned in a solid performance in his 19th career playoff game. While Backes was out with an upper-body injury, centre Patrik Berglund returned for the Blues after missing three games. Berglund, who had 14 goals and 18 assists this season, skated behind the net for a nice wraparound opportunity in the first period, but was turned away by Chicago defenceman Nick Leddy. Seabrooks hit on Backes, and at least one knee-on-knee blow by Bryan Bickell, increased the tension between Central Division rivals. But Game 3 was surprisingly civil, with each team wary of another penalty that could swing the series. There was a lot of chirping from each side, and that was about it. Looking for a spark, Quenneville put Toews, Patrick Kane and Bickell on the same line for the start of Game 3. The trio had a lot of success in the Blackhawks run to the title last year. The move worked. Toews connected from the top of the left point in the first, beating Miller with a shot that took an unusual bounce. Bickell also created a couple of quality chances with some slick passing. "If thats how its going to go in, then were doing a good job of taking care of the clean chances and the easier ones for them," said Blues defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk, who was right in front of Toews on the goal. "We just have to keep going." NOTES: Blues F Vladimir Sobotka went to the locker room after he took a power-play shot off his right arm in the second, but he returned later in the period. ... The announced attendance of 22,112 was the 268th consecutive sellout for the Blackhawks, counting the playoffs. 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Sweden cut the lead in half when Daniel Muzito Bagenda scored a power-play goal at 10:57 of the second.TORONTO - Kevin Pillar doesnt know how long his second shot with the Blue Jays will last but hes here, excited to play and eager to use the opportunity to showcase the strides hes made toward becoming a consistent major league player. Amongst Torontos starting outfielders, only Jose Bautista is signed for next season. Colby Rasmus and Melky Cabrera are in the final year of their deals. "I think guys like myself, guys like Anthony (Gose), know that theres potential for some openings in the outfield coming up," said Pillar. "Were really here to just take care of our business. Any time you get to go out on a big league field its an audition, not only for your team but all the other 29 teams out there. As guys who play the game we want to play in the major leagues. Ideally we want to play for the Blue Jays, theyre the team that drafted me and theyre dear to my heart but anytime you step onto the field you know its an audition for a major league job somewhere." Pillar joins the club red-hot at the plate. After stumbling out of the gate to a .114 batting average (5-for-44), Pillar has gone 38-for-97 (.392) since, which included an 18-game hitting streak. At the time of his recall, hed reached base safely in each of Triple-A Buffalos last 26 games. His nine walks represent an upward trend over his time with the Bisons last year. Pillar has struck out 16 times which, prorated, is a positive trend downward. "Just getting back, using the whole field and being aggressive in counts, hunting the heater and getting better pitches to hit," said Pillar of his early-season adjustments. "Kev, in the minor leagues last year, had a tremendous year," said manager John Gibbons. "He came up here, got his feet wet and it was a little bit of a struggle for him last year. Went back down there to Triple-A this year and really got it going again. Hes a good baseball player. A real good defender, good baserunner and the guy can hit." Like Chad ;Jenkins and Jonathan Diaz (the man whose roster spot he took – Diaz was optioned to Buffalo on Tuesday) the day before, Pillars travel day began in Charlotte and involved a complicated path to Toronto.dddddddddddd He flew from Charlotte to Baltimore, changed planes and flew into Buffalo. After quick stops at his apartment to gather clothes and toiletries and at the Bisons home, Coca Cola Field, where he transferred his equipment to a bag with a Blue Jays logo, he picked up the waiting car service for the drive to Toronto. This time when Pillar arrived in the clubhouse, he knew what to expect. He knew where to go to find what he needed. Its nice to feel comfortable. "That was a huge difference compared to last time," said Pillar. "Coming in, I walked in on egg shells. I didnt really know anyone here. I was greeted with open arms. At least I knew where my locker was, I knew where things were at this time. Its definitely a different feeling this time." "Hes coming back the second time, you know the shock, now he knows what to expect, said Gibbons. "The awe of the big leagues is kind of out the way now. The first time you show up you dont know what to expect and youre kind of overwhelmed or you can be sometimes." Pillar started in centerfield in place of Colby Rasmus on Tuesday night. Rasmus is nursing a tight right hamstring, the condition of which Rasmus said was improving. After Monday nights game, in which Rasmus was removed to start the seventh, Gibbons offered that maybe Rasmus was in need of a stint on the disabled list. Rasmus is hoping to avoid the DL and by Tuesday afternoon Gibbons had changed his tone, sounding hopeful Rasmus would need only a day or two on the bench. Meanwhile, while hes here, Pillar just wants to relax. "I dont have those same butterflies that I did six months ago when I came here the first time," said Pillar. "I kind of feel like Im here on a business trip and Im prepared." ' ' '