Blackhawks' power play gets one early

ST. LOUIS - The Blackhawks' power play had been so good for so long that the recent 4-for-35 stretch raises questions.

Are opposing penalty-killers attacking the Hawks differently?

Has Patrick Kane's ankle problem caused the Hawks to be less dangerous with the man advantage?

"You're going to have bumps along the way where your power play is not going to be productive," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "I don't mind when it's not productive, as long as you keep the momentum in the game.

"I think that's the part where we have to address it and it has to get better where even if we don't score we're sustaining offensive zone time and creating chances and we're getting puck possession. We have to be harder on retrievals and simpler."

The Hawks got a power-play goal Saturday from Troy Brouwer in the first period of their 2-1 overtime win over the Blues, a tip-in from in front of the net. It gave them early momentum.

"We just have to do a better job of outworking the penalty-killers," Patrick Sharp said.

Since Kane returned from missing two games with a high right ankle sprain, the Hawks were 3-for-31 on the power play before playing the Blues at Scottrade Center.

Kane went without a goal for the 10th straight game and has just 1 assist in that stretch.

"Our production, be it on the power play or 5-on-5 with him on that line, it's been down, but I think you've got to work through it," Quenneville said. "It's not an easy process."

Kane admitted last week that he is playing through the pain in his ankle.

Work in progress: Before the Hawks had five 5-on-3 power play chances Friday against the Rangers, they had only five total in their previous 41 games.

"We haven't had really any 5-on-3s all years, and to have the bulk in one game was unusual," Joel Quenneville said. "Whether we were uncomfortable or not, we've got to do better things with it.

"It's something we'll try to work on as we go along here. It's been something we've practiced, but we haven't had any in games and you could tell."

Tip-ins: Duncan Keith missed his second game with a possible concussion and is not likely to play Monday against Minnesota... Craig Adams was a healthy scratch with Troy Brouwer returning to the lineup ... The Blues played without Keith Tkachuk (head injury) for the second game in a row.