It would be hard to convince the Winnipeg Jets that Black Hawk left wing Bill Watson still has some soreness in his shoulder.
Watson, playing in his third game since recovering from a separated shoulder, set up two Denis Savard goals Wednesday night at the Stadium. The Hawks scored twice in the first period and once in the third and made it hold up for a 3-2 victory in front of 15,776.
Wayne Presley also scored for the Hawks, who extended their undefeated streak to seven games. They are 5-0-2 in that stretch dating to a 5-2 victory Feb. 19 over the Rangers.
The triumph enabled the Hawks to move into sole possession of third place in the National Hockey League`s Norris Division, two points behind idle Minnesota.
The Hawks had a 2-1 lead going into the third period. Winnipeg left wing Brian Mullen scored the only goal of the second period. Center Dale Hawerchuk passed from the boards to Mullen, who skated in and beat goalie Murray Bannerman from the left circle at 6:01.
Hawerchuk came into the game as the third leading scorer in the league with 43 goals and 44 assists.
Right wing Paul MacLean was penalized for holding at 8:38, but the Hawks failed on the power play. The Hawks were 0-for-2 on the power play after two periods, and Winnipeg was 0-for-1. The Jets entered the game as the best penalty-killing team in the league.
The Hawks took a 2-0 at the end of the opening period. The first few minutes of the period were sloppy because of several whistles, and each team was trying to match lines.
Savard opened the scoring at 5:40 on a deflection of Watson`s shot from the slot. Watson got a pass from Steve Larmer and took a wrist shot as he fought off a check from center Thomas Steen.
It was originally announced as Watson`s goal, but was changed during the second period. It would have been his second goal in three games after returning from the injury.
The Hawks went ahead 2-0 with 1:25 left in the period. Mike Stapleton forced defenseman Randy Carlyle to make a bad pass from the boards, and Presley intercepted the puck inside the blue line. He moved into the slot, and scored his 26th goal of the season on a slap shot that squirted past rookie goalie Eldon Reddick.
Reddick came into the game with 19-14-2 record and a 3.33 goals-against average. Fellow rookie Daniel Berthiaume is 15-6-3 and has allowed 3.17 goals a game.
They`re one reason Winnipeg has made a dramatic turnaround under first-year coach Dan Maloney, who took Toronto to within a game of the Stanley Cup semifinals last season. Winnipeg finished 26-47-7 last year in the Smythe Division, 60 points behind first-place Edmonton.
The Hawks play two of their next three games at the Stadium, but then they have five of their next six games on the road against Boston, Minnesota, Toronto, Detroit and the New York Rangers.
The Hawks had beaten Winnipeg in the teams` previous two meetings, 8-4 on the road and 5-1 at the Stadium, but that didn`t mean anything to coach Bob Pulford.
”It`s how we`ve been playing now,” Pulford said. ”That`s history. The league this year is where everybody is beating everybody.”
Bannerman was in goal Wednesday for the fifth straight game. He was 3-0-1 in his previous four starts, beating the Rangers, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles and tying Montreal.
Warren Skorodenski was called up from Saginaw of the International Hockey League to be a back up for Bannerman. Bob Sauve was out with a sore back after pulling a muscle in warm-ups before Sunday`s game against Los Angeles.
Skorodenski was 10-15-0 with a 4.00 goals-against average with Nova Scotia in the American Hockey League before going to Saginaw, where he was 0-1-0 in two games.
Pulford reunited Ed Olczyk on the line with center Troy Murray and left wing Curt Fraser. ”I think Olczyk is playing better now,” Pulford said.
”Stapleton we feel has played very well. We`ll put him in on a regular basis.”
Rookie right wing Mark LaVarre was demoted to the fourth line. ”He`s on that line for a while,” Pulford said.
