Blackhawks Slam Hasek, Sabres 5-3

So much for the Chicago Blackhawks' goal-scoring problems. The Blackhawks have scored more goals in the last two games than they did in their first 10 games combined.

Alexei Zhamnov scored one goal and set up two others, and the Blackhawks held off a third-period rally in a 5-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.

"We just played well," Blackhawks forward Tony Amonte said. ``We tried to simplify our game, make the simple plays and not try anything too fancy. We needed that (win) bad."

Simple has been successful for the Blackhawks lately. They stayed with the basics in an 8-4 victory over Florida on Sunday and came back with a similar effort against Buffalo.

The 13 goals over the last two games came from a Chicago team that had been shut out 10 times this season and had not scored 13 goals until its 11th game of the year.

Zhamnov gave the Blackhawks a 3-1 lead in the third when he poked in Amonte's rebound, then he set up Greg Johnson's game-winner with a perfect cross-ice pass 9:05 into the final period.

"That's the best they have played," Chicago coach Craig Hartburg said. "They did the little team things we need to have success."

After seven loses to start the season, the Blackhawks have worked their way back into a battle with Edmonton for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Chicago had a 4-1 lead before Miroslav Satan and Jason Dawe scored 1:13 apart in the third period. But the Blackhawks held onto the lead and closed a four-game road trip with the two victories.

"We're happy with the win, but we're definitely not satisfied," Amonte said. "If we can string off four or five wins in a row, it would really help us out and set us up for the last 10 games."

Ethan Moreau and Eric Daze scored the other goals for the Blackhawks. Wayne Primeau had the other Sabres goal.

It was the first time this season the Sabres scored three goals in a game and lost. Usually, that many goals are plenty for goalie Dominik Hasek, whose played average in this one.

"I Didn't feel bad about this game," Hasek said. ``I feel like they could have done more. I was lucky. I think they could have had eight or 10 (goals)."

Satan cut the margin to 4-2 when he sent the puck to Rob Ray near the goal crease and circled around the net before beating Chicago goalie Jeff Hackett with a backhander. Dawe made it 4-3 when he lifted a wrist shot into the top corner for his first goal since Feb. 2.

Buffalo forward Matthew Barnaby, unhappy since the departure of former coach Ted Nolan, has asked he be traded before the March 25 deadline.

"It's time for me to move on to greener pastures," Barnaby said. ``It's just a combination of things. I've had a rough year personally. I tried to put everything behind mebut I didn't like the person I was becoming."