The Blackhawks were back on the road Wednesday night, ending their mini-slump and spoiling the Phoenix Coyotes’ homecoming by scoring a 5-2victory.
With Ryan VandenBussche providing a screen, Jaroslav Spacek scored on a long shot midway through the second period to break a 2-2 deadlock. Steve Sullivan and Mark Bell scored in the third period.
The Coyotes returned to America West Arena for the first time since Jan. 19–sporting a 5-2 record to show for their travel–while the Hawks were playing their first game in a week and resuming a five-game trip that began with narrow losses in Boston and New Jersey. The expedition will continue Friday night in San Jose and conclude Saturday night in Colorado.
“I want to get points out of them all and you know it’s not going to be easy,” said Hawks coach Brian Sutter at the morning skate. “The last two days in practice the guys were fired up. We’re ready to go. We’ve got to bear down early.”
That’s exactly what the Hawks did, but following a fast start they faltered and the first period ended in a 2-2 deadlock.
The Hawks came out firing pucks hot and heavy at Phoenix goalie Robert Esche and two of captain Tony Amonte’s shots found their mark.
Amonte’s first goal came on a power play in the third minute of play. Shooting from the right circle he found a small opening above Esche’s right shoulder and sent the puck whizzing into the net.
Less than three minutes later, Amonte made the score 2-0 when he took Alex Zhamnov’s pass from behind the net, whirled and whipped a sweeping shot across the goal line while Kyle Calder was in front of the net giving Esche a hard time.
Exit Esche. Enter Sean Burke. Coinciding with the change in goalies was a change in the complexion of the game.
Andre Nazarov put the Coyotes on the scoreboard at 6 minutes 26 seconds, flicking a shot past goalie Jocelyn Thibault.
Late in the period, with the teams skating four-on-four because of coincidental penalties, Daniel Briere tied it.
Sixty-seven seconds before intermission, Spacek was penalized four minutes for high sticking Landon Wilson. Seventeen seconds into Spacek’s sentence, Sullivan broke away and was hauled down from behind by Paul Mara, creating another four-on-four situation.
