Hawks climb back to .500

It wasn't that Patrick Lalime single-handedly won Wednesday night's game for the Blackhawks. But he didn't do anything to lose it either.

Lalime, getting his second straight start in goal, made all the saves he was supposed to make, some of them bigger than others, in the Hawks' 6-1 win over the St. Louis Blues before 17,570 at the United Center.

Lalime and the Hawks have won two games in a row to get back to the .500 mark at 21-21-4, and it's Lalime who will start again Friday against the Avalanche in Denver.

"If he keeps winning, he'll keep playing," Hawks coach Denis Savard said.

It actually was a 2-1 game going to the third period, with Lalime stopping 15 of 16 shots in the second period and 32 for the game.

"When you win 6-1 it means everybody played well," Lalime said. "It was a great team win. I just try to do my best when I'm out there and be part of it."

Patrick Kane broke out of his goal drought with 2 and also had an assist, but the Hawks also got big offensive performances from Dustin Byfuglien, Rene Bourque and Jack Skille.

Byfuglien had a goal and 2 assists, responding in a big way after being benched for the third period Sunday at Nashville.

"It was a little wake-up call," Byfuglien said.

"He played a heck of a game," Savard said. "I had a good talk with him in front of his teammates in a good way. I told him that he's going to be a great player and one night doesn't make the year.

"I think Buff is a very sensitive young man, so we have to be careful how we handle him, but he responded. Good for him."

Skille and Bourque each had a goal and an assist. Skille got a bit more ice time after Kris Versteeg was lost with a sprained right shoulder.

The Hawks broke a scoreless tie with second period goals from Skille and Bourque.

Skille's second goal of the season at 9:19 was set up by Tuomo Ruutu's big hit on Blues rookie defenseman Erik Johnson behind the net.

Both goals came against Blues relief goalie Marek Schwarz, who took over to start the second period after Manny Legace injured his right arm in a collision with Patrick Sharp.

The Hawks got a huge goal from Kane 62 seconds into the third period on a power play, which was just his third in 29 games.

Kane's second goal came at 14:38 of the third and made it 5-1. He scored it into an empty net after Blues coach Andy Murray pulled Schwarz for a sixth attacker with more than six minutes to play.

"It was surprising to see that, but the net was empty and you might as well take advantage of it," Kane said. "Hopefully we can start a little streak now to make up for our losing streak."

Murray said he pulled Schwarz so early to send his team a message that he was still coaching to win.

"Give (the Hawks) credit," Murray said. "I've watched some of their games lately and, even though they had that streak, they were deserving of some points."