Backup goaltender Jeff Hackett, out since Oct. 6 with a broken right index finger, was expected to give Ed Belfour a breather Friday night against Detroit, but he re-injured his finger during Thursday night’s pregame warmup.
“We thought he’d be OK,” coach Craig Hartsburg said of Hackett, “but he took some shots and after warmups it was sore again.”
Hackett’s availability remains day-to-day. Hartsburg doesn’t think Hackett rebroke the finger, but will know more Saturday. In the meantime, the Hawks recalled Jimmy Waite from Indianapolis, where they had sent him on Wednesday. He started in place of Belfour, who had started seven straight and won four in a row, but his back was stiff following Thursday night’s 6-4 victory over St. Louis.
Big step: The Hawks were 1 for 36 on the power play this season before crashing through Friday with two man-advantage goals in five tries.
“We took some steps in the right direction,” said Tony Amonte, who was shut out for the first time in five games. “Hopefully, we can build on it.”
Chippy: Referee Paul Stewart handed out 50 minutes of penalties in the first period, starting with Ethan Moreau’s and Martin Lapointe’s 5-minute penalties for fighting 1:51 into the game. Moreau didn’t forget that Lapointe had given him a black eye in their last meeting, Oct. 17, on a punch he never saw.
“He has a good memory,” Hartsburg said of Moreau.
Best offense is a . . . Good defense, at least it is in the case of the Hawks. All of their defensemen have been jumping up and joining offensive rushes this season, and it has paid off so far. Chris Chelios has two goals; Eric Weinrich has two goals, including the game-winner Thursday on which he intercepted a St. Louis clearing pass and drilled a slap shot past Jon Casey from just inside the blue line; and Enrico Ciccone has two goals.
“The defensemen have helped out a great deal,” Amonte said. “When they’re jumping up, moving up, we’re getting a lot of chances.”
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The Hawks got 40 shots on goal against the Blues on Thursday, and gave up only 20. They had 28 shots Friday against Detroit.
Good start: Dmitri Nabokov, a 19-year-old Russian center who was the Hawks’ No. 1 draft pick in 1995, has five goals and nine assists in his first seven games in the Western Junior League at Regina.