Steve Passmore, the backup goalie with the hot hand, was back in the nets Wednesday night when the Blackhawks met the Nashville Predators at the United Center.
This time he didn’t have do the acrobatic acts that he performed Sunday afternoon when the Hawks defeated St. Louis in overtime.
Nashville’s scoring chances were few and far between, Passmore had a relatively easy night and the Hawks skated to a 4-1 victory that vaulted them two points ahead of idle Los Angeles into fourth place in the Western Conference playoff race.
Passmore made 16 saves in improving his season record to 7-3-3.
“We played solidly in all three zones,” Passmore said.
Jocelyn Thibault’s understudy refused to read anything into his second straight start.
“My role hasn’t changed,” Passmore said. “`T’ is our horse and that’s the way it is. When I get a chance to go in, that’s great. The rest of the time I sit there with the pompoms.”
The only flaw in Passmore’s performance was a power-play deflection by Denis Arkhipov with 7 minutes 23 seconds to play that prevented him from getting his first shutout this season and the third of his 69-game NHL career.
For the Hawks, this second consecutive conquest after a six-game winless streak gave them a 2-1-3 record to show for their last six outings and 87 points for the season.
“Textbook game,” coach Brian Sutter said. “We came out and went after them. Our power play was good. Our penalty killing was good. Our goaltending was good.
“The only disappointing thing was they scored a goal.”
Rookie Mark Bell got the Hawks’ first goal in an even-strength situation midway through the first period. Late in the second period, 38-year-old Phil Housley scored on a power play and Tom Fitzgerald, who was the Predators’ captain until he was traded earlier in the month, got a short-handed goal.
With 51 seconds left in the game and the teams at even strength, Tony Amonte completed the scoring by contributing his 24th goal and his first in 12 games.
The point that Housley picked up on the power-play goal was No. 1,200 of his 20-year NHL career. He is the fourth defenseman and the 35th player to reach the 1,200 milestone.
“It’s nice to do it when you’re winning,” Housley said. “I felt we were in control the whole game.”
