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Kane, Byfuglien key Blackhawks' third-period uprising

Jan 17, 2008 - 5:35 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Rookie Patrick Kane and defenseman Dustin Byfuglien had quite the third period on Wednesday.

Kane had two goals and an assist and Byfuglien added a tally and two assists - all in the final session - to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 6-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues in a battle between Central Division rivals.

With Chicago nursing a 2-1 lead entering the third period, Byfuglien set up Kane just 62 seconds into the session.

The first overall pick of the 2007 draft, Kane one-timed Byfuglien's offering in the slot past backup goaltender Marek Schwarz to snap a nine-game goalless drought.

"It was a tight game going into the third period," Kane said. "After I got the early goal there, the floodgates just opened."

Byfuglien gave the Blackhawks a three-goal cushion 12 1/2 minutes later after benefiting from a fortunate bounce.

The defenseman's attempt to feed Rene Bourque on the doorstep deflected off the skate of backchecking blue-liner Bryce Salvador and past Schwarz for his ninth goal of the season.

"It was a night where everyone on our team was working hard," Byfuglien said. "The bounces went our way too, and people put away their scoring chances."

Kane added an empty-net tally and then set up Yanic Perreault to cap the scoring.

"It was nice to score and get back on the board," Kane said. "I had a two-minute shift to score the empty netter, my teammates gave me a lot of crap about that."

Rookie Jack Skille and Bourque scored exactly six minutes apart to give Chicago a 2-0 lead in the second period.

"Bourque had a great shot and I got a lucky goal," Skille said. "It's nice to hit the net, but the shootout win in Nashville was big for us. Maybe the floodgates will open for us and we will continue our winning streak."

Lee Stempniak halved the deficit by scoring with 79 seconds remaining in the session.

"We were still in the game at 2-1," Stempniak said. "Then all intermission, we talked about getting back even, so when Kane got the quick goal in the third, it was pretty deflating."

Blues starting goaltender Manny Legace suffered a right wrist injury in the first period and did not return.

With 4:38 remaining in the session, Chicago's Patrick Sharp skated in on the netminder, but defenseman Barret Jackman cross-checked Sharp from behind and sent him careening into Legace.

The 34-year-old goaltender fell to the ice and subsequently was examined by the team's trainer.

Legace finished the period with seven saves, but after being re-evaluated during the first intermission, Legace gave way to Schwarz to start the second session.

"I expect Manny back for our next game," Blues coach Andy Murray. "They have done X-rays and everything, and the injury is just a bruise."