The pain of playing with a broken toe on each foot was too much for Alex Zhamnov to bear Thursday night.
The Blackhawks’ top center sat out the Hawks’ 2-1 victory against St. Louis, and he won’t make the trip to New York when the Hawks put their four-game winning streak on the line Saturday night against the Islanders.
Zhamnov broke a toe on his right foot a week ago Wednesday against Vancouver and one on his left foot Friday against San Jose. He played in pain Sunday against Pittsburgh.
The loss of Zhamnov, coupled with center Greg Johnson not being fully recovered from a strained groin, forced coach Craig Hartsburg to juggle his lineup. Jeff Shantz, who had been playing wing on the Hawks’ checking line with Brent Sutter and James Black, took Zhamnov’s place on a line with Ethan Moreau and Eric Daze. Kevin Miller filled in at Shantz’s wing spot and set up Black’s winning goal.
Jean-Yves Leroux, who missed the last two games with a pulled muscle, returned and played on a line with Steve Dubinsky and Jim Cummins. Todd White continued to center for Tony Amonte and Sergei Krivokrasov.
Comeback trail: After opening 0-7, the Hawks have gone 6-3.
“The confidence just starts to grow and grow,” said Amonte. “We’re still striving to get back to .500. There will be no nights off.”
Said Sutter: “To come out with eight points (on this four-game homestand) in the position we were in is definitely a big, positive sign.”
Down and out: St. Louis’ Joe Murphy hurt his wrist 1 minute 33 seconds into the first period and didn’t return. He slammed into the boards after Hawks goalie Chris Terreri turned aside his backhander on a breakaway.
Milestone: Steve Duchesne’s third-period goal gave the Blues defenseman 600 points in his career.
Seeing red: General Manager Bob Murray can’t ignore the large number of empty red seats at the United Center this season. Through the first 10 home games, attendance was down 12,786. Thursday’s crowd was 16,685.
“The product on the ice determines if people are in the building,” said Murray. “That’s my responsibility.”
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THURSDAY’S HAWKS SUMMARY
St. Louis 0 0 1–1
BLACKHAWKS 1 0 1–2
First period: 1, BLACKHAWKS, Daze 6 (Carney, Shantz), 16:18. Penalties: Pellerin, StL (interference), 4:42; Moreau, Chi (holding), 16:40.
Second period: No scoring. Penalty: MacInnis, StL (tripping), 5:56.
Third period: 2, St. Louis, Duchesne 4 (Conroy, Pellerin), 9:31. 3, BLACKHAWKS, Black 1 (Miller, Sutter), 18:29. Penalties: Sutter, Chi (holding), 5:30.
Shots on goal:
St. Louis 6-5-5–16
BLACKHAWKS 6-5-5–16
Power plays: St. Louis 0 of 2; BLACKHAWKS 0 of 2. Goalies: St. Louis, Fuhr 9-3-2 (16 shots-14 saves). HAWKS, Terreri 6-8-0 (16-15). A: 16,685. Referee: Kerry Fraser. Linesmen: Thor Nelson, Dan Schachte.