Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford returned to the lineup and got his game back in order.Crawford stopped 20 shots in his first game in more than two weeks as the Hawks beat the slumping Montreal Canadiens 5-1 Wednesday.Crawford hadn’t played since being pulled early in the second period of a 4-3 shootout loss to Phoenix on Dec. 5 after allowing three goals on 16 shots. Backup Ray Emery finished that game, then made six consecutive starts and won five straight before losing at Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.Andrew Brunette and Patrick Sharp scored 21 seconds apart midway through the second period to lead the Blackhawks. Viktor Stalberg scored midway through the third period, and Jonathan Toews and Bryan Bickell added late goals for the NHL-leading Blackhawks,who rebounded from the 3-2 loss to the Penguins the previous night, improving to 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.Crawford, a Montreal native, got his groove back against the team he grew up watching.Crawford allowed a power-play goal to Montreal’s Andrei Kostitsyn early in the second that put the Canadiens ahead 1-0.The Blackhawks then started to take charge against Montreal, which lost its fourth straight — including the last three since interim coach Randy Cunneyworth replaced Jacques Martin last Saturday.And Crawford wasn’t beat again.Montreal backup Peter Budaj stopped 23 shots in his first start since Nov. 30. Carey Price had started the Canadiens’ previous nine contests.Budaj kept the game close until Stalberg made it 3-1 at 10:29 of the third.Some of the Canadiens players let their emotions show in the dressing room after the loss.Neither team sustained much offensive pressure in the scoreless first period. Chicago’s Duncan Keith hit the right post with a shot from the point midway through the frame.Kostitsyn’s power-play goal, on a deflection from just outside the crease, opened the scoring at 5:35 of the second. Kostitisyn tipped Tomas Plekanec’s low shot from the right circle upward, off Crawford’s shoulder and into the net.The Hawks took a 2-1 lead on goals scored on consecutive shots midway through the second.Brunette was credited with tying it at 1 with 8:24 left in the period as his centering pass to Toews struck Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban’s skate and deflected past Budaj.Sharp’s 18th goal made it 2-1 with 8:03 left. After skating into the Montreal zone on a 2-on-2 break, Sharp’s shot hit the stick of defenseman Chris Campoli, who had belly-flopped to the ice. The puck fluttered past Budaj on the glove side.Sharp has points in nine of his last 10 games, and eight goals and six assists in the span.Stalberg extended the lead to 3-1 midway through the third. After Subban turned the puck over to Bickell behind the Montreal net, Bickell fed it to Stalberg, who beat Budaj on a high shot from between the circles.Toews scored his 20th goal into an empty net with 1:17 left to make it 4-1. Bickell scored with 11.8 seconds left to complete the scoring.

NOTES—Marian Hossa had an assist to extend his point streak to seven games. He has four goals and eight assists in the span….Dan Carcillo sat out his fourth game with upper-body injury and was placed on IR on Wednesday….Marcus Kruger sat out after taking a hit to the head from Pittsburgh’s Deryk Engelland in a game on Tuesday night. Both Carcillo and Kruger are believed to have post-concussion symptoms…..The Blackhawks recalled C Brandon Pirri from Rockford of the AHL on Wednesday to take Kruger’s roster spot….Montreal’s Brian Gionta (lower body) missed his sixth game and Scott Gomez (lower body) missed his 13th.. The game was the only regular-season contest between the Hawks and Montreal. The two “Original Six” teams have not played more than once in a season since 2001-02.