Arduino 7seg 8 digits countdown

7seg.ino

#include "LedControl.h"
LedControl lc = LedControl(7, 6, 5, 1);

void setup() {
  lc.shutdown(0, false);
  lc.clearDisplay(0);
  lc.setIntensity(0, 15);
}

void printDashes() {

  lc.setChar(0, 0, '-', false);
  lc.setChar(0, 1, '-', false);
  lc.setChar(0, 2, '-', false);
  lc.setChar(0, 3, '-', false);
  lc.setChar(0, 4, '-', false);
  lc.setChar(0, 5, '-', false);
  lc.setChar(0, 6, '-', false);
  lc.setChar(0, 7, '-', false);

}
void blink(int times)
{


  for (int i = 0; i < times; i++) {

    lc.setScanLimit(0, 7);
    lc.clearDisplay(0);

    printDashes();

    delay(150);
    lc.clearDisplay(0);

    lc.setScanLimit(0, 0);
    delay(150);
  }


}

void countdown(int counter)
{

  while (counter >= 0)
  {

    int maxDigit = 0;

    int n = counter;
    for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
      int digit = n % 10;
      n = n / 10;

      lc.setDigit(0, i, digit, false);
      if (digit)
      {
        maxDigit = i;
      }
    }

    lc.setScanLimit(0, maxDigit);

    delay(900);
    lc.clearDisplay(0);
    delay(100);

    counter--;
  }

}

int counter = 0;
void loop() {



  blink(3);

  delay(500);
  countdown(9);

  delay(500);

  //lc.setDigit(0, 0, 1, false);
  //lc.setIntensity(0, 1);

  //lc.setScanLimit(0,8);
  ///delay(1000);

  lc.clearDisplay(0);

  delay(1000);


  counter++;
}