Patience Pays off for Blackhawks

Bringing new players into a new system has not been easy for the Chicago Blackhawks. Everything finally came together against the Detroit Red Wings.

Steve Sullivan scored twice and Tony Amonte had a goal and an assist in a decisive three-goal second period as the Blackhawks defeated the Red Wings, 6-1, at Detroit on Friday night.

“I think the biggest thing we get from this game is it gives us confidence we’re doing something right,” first-year Coach Alpo Suhonen said after the Blackhawks won for just the fourth time in 13 games.

“It was a total team effort,” said Chicago goalie Jocelyn Thibault, who had a 6-0 lead before Doug Brown scored the lone Detroit goal with 35 seconds remaining. “When we came in, we knew everybody had to play their best game to win in Detroit.”

Jean-Yves Leroux added a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks, who also had goals by Alexei Zhamnov and Valeri Zelepukin.

“I guess this is the first time we played all the key areas good,” Suhonen said.

The Blackhawks--who lost, 4-0, to the Red Wings at home last month--outshot Detroit, 36-31. Chicago scored four times against goalie Chris Osgood, who lost, 6-2, in his last start Tuesday at Washington.

“It’s disappointing to have two efforts like that in three games,” Detroit forward Brendan Shanahan said. “We know Chicago, regardless of the standings, they always come in here and play well. We had our chances, then they’d come down and score--whether it was a breakdown, bad communication or a bad bounce.”

Osgood’s vulnerability to long shots was evident twice when the Blackhawks broke the game open with three goals in a 4:02 span for a 4-0 second-period lead.

Dallas 2, Phoenix 2--Jeremy Roenick tied the game in the third period as the Coyotes extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games with a tie against the Stars at Phoenix.

The Coyotes got a 30-save effort from Sean Burke, who went in leading the NHL in most goaltending categories. Phoenix was unable to score with a man advantage for the fourth consecutive game.

Trevor Letowski had a short-handed goal for the Coyotes, and Shaun Van Allen and Joe Nieuwendyk scored for the Stars.

Phoenix is 7-0-4 since its only loss of the season. During the streak, the Coyotes have been outshot 10 times, including 32-17 by the Stars.

Colorado 5, Carolina 3--Milan Hejduk scored twice and Joe Sakic had a goal and two assists as the Avalanche defeated the Hurricanes at Denver.

Peter Forsberg added a goal and an assist to help Colorado extend its unbeaten streak over Carolina to nine games (7-0-2). The Hurricanes haven’t defeated Colorado since 1995 when they were still playing in Hartford.

Sandis Ozolinsh, traded from the Avalanche to Carolina in June, had a goal and an assist against his former team but was on the ice for three of Colorado’s four goals.

The Avalanche has allowed 11 goals in its last three games after surrendering 15 during an 11-game unbeaten streak to start the season.

Tampa Bay 4, New York Islanders 3--Mike Johnson scored the tying goal with 24.2 seconds left in regulation and then set up Craig Millar’s game-winner in overtime as the Lightning snapped the Islanders’ six-game unbeaten streak with a victory at Tampa, Fla.

Brad Isbister, who has goals in three consecutive games, Tim Connolly and Garry Galley scored for the Islanders. New York had not had an unbeaten streak this long since the 1995-96 season.

New York also had its four-game winning streak stopped, the Islanders’ longest run since April 1998.

Edmonton 3, Minnesota 0--Tommy Salo made 20 saves and Janne Niinimaa scored the game-winner early in the third period as the Oilers defeated the Wild at Edmonton, Canada.

Salo’s shutout was his third with the Oilers. On Thursday he signed a three-year $10.4 million contract.

Buffalo 5, Montreal 4--Miroslav Satan snapped a tie with 11:44 left and Dominik Hasek stopped a penalty shot less than a minute later, leading the Sabres over the Canadiens at Buffalo, N.Y.

Pittsburgh 4, Vancouver 2--Robert Lang scored a pair of power-play goals and added an assist at Vancouver, Canada, as the Penguins ended a two-game losing streak.