Keith Tkachuk and Doug Gilmour seem to be involved in a trade rumor a day. But with both stars sidelined by injuries, the focus finally turned to hockey on Sunday.
The Blackhawks responded.
Riding the offensive prowess of Tony Amonte and Alex Zhamnov, along with the energy of Bob Probert, the Hawks drilled Phoenix 7-3 before a crowd of 17,321 at the United Center. That’s four wins in five games for a finally-interested Hawks team that is 10 games under .500 for the first time since Feb. 14.
Hey, progress, like Josef Marha goals, sometimes comes in small doses.
“Against good teams, the guys have done a good job preparing,” associate coach Lorne Molleken said.
Boris Mironov and Michael Nylander staked the Hawks to a 2-0 lead with first-period goals scored 44 seconds apart. Amonte made it 3-0 with his fourth short-handed goal of the season, tied for second in the league. Zhamnov checked Shane Doan along the boards, and the puck squirted to Amonte, who converted the breakaway chance with a high, quick shot past Bob Essensa.
Marha made it 4-0 with just his sixth goal of the season, a pretty back-hander off a centering feed from Blair Atcheynum.
Phoenix dented Jocelyn Thibault with goals by Doan and Benoit Hogue before the first period ended. But Amonte and Zhamnov hooked up on two of the prettier goals of the season in the second.
Zhamnov wrapped a pass around a sliding Keith Carney from a tough angle, and Amonte converted the two-on-one at 7:35. And Amonte set up Zhamnov for a wrist shot at 10:09 with a 360-degree spin move at the blue line.
“His pass was better,” joked Amonte, who has four goals in his last two games. “He’s been putting the puck on my stick way too often.”
