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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CHICAGO (AP) -- Bob Pulford isn't known as a man of many words.
Since his return to the bench, the Chicago Blackhawks have done the talking for him on the ice.
|  | | Chicago's Jean-Pierre Dumont, right, scores on helpless Edmonton goaltender Tommy Salo in the first period. |
With a 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers Monday night, the
Blackhawks improved to 2-1-0 since Pulford took over as the team's general manager and head coach Thursday.
Chicago posted back-to-back wins for only the second time this season.
"The last two games, there's been a quiet confidence," said
Blackhawks associate coach Lorne Molleken, who had been the head coach before Pulford's return. "There's a calming effect and our players feel good about themselves. Bob's added that.
"Guys are playing with a lot of discipline," Molleken added.
"Our game plan hasn't changed, but now we're executing it."
The Blackhawks built a 5-0 lead on goals by Jean-Pierre Dumont, Steve Sullivan, Alex Zhamnov, Doug Gilmour and Eric Daze. Steve
Passmore, who made 24 saves, lost his bid for a second shutout this
season with 5:14 remaining when Edmonton's Boyd Devereaux converted
a loose rebound.
"We got a 60-minute effort tonight and that's huge," Passmore
said. "Anyone can see the difference in the way we're playing.
'We're playing with confidence, coming out aggressive and we're
hitting."
The win followed the Blackhawks' 9-3 victory Saturday at Boston
and was only Chicago's second at home in 13 games. Chicago, which
got two assists each from Tony Amonte and Michael Nylander,
improved to 2-8-3 at the United Center.
Meanwhile, the Oilers continued to struggle on the road and
dropped to 1-10-2 away from Skyreach Center.
"By far, that's our worst performance of the year, there's no
question -- home, road, exhibition, training camp, all over,"
Edmonton coach Kevin Lowe said.
The Blackhawks connected on four of their first 14 shots against
Edmonton goaltender Tommy Salo, who was replaced after two periods
by Bill Ranford.
Chicago led 2-0 after the first on goals by Dumont and Sullivan
from the edge of the Edmonton crease.
Dumont redirected Amonte's feed past Salo at 5:44 to open the
scoring. Sullivan connected on a one-timer at 9:18 after taking
Nylander's pass from behind the net.
"We came out, gave them some golden opportunities and they
buried them," Edmonton's Doug Weight said. "It was a bad first
period and we paid for it."
Zhamnov and Gilmour struck for power-play goals 1:56 apart late
in the second to extend the lead to 4-0.
While helping create traffic in front of the Edmonton net,
Zhamnov deflected in Doug Zmolek's shot from the point at 15:07.
After sliding to the edge of the crease, Gilmour redirected Sylvain
Cote's feed from the corner with 2:57 left in the period.
Daze made it 5-0 with a shot from the right circle at 4:46 of
the third. Devereaux completed the scoring with 5:14 left when he
swatted in a loose rebound at the edge of the crease.
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NHL Scoreboard
Edmonton Clubhouse
Chicago Clubhouse
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Nashville 4
Atlanta 3
NY Rangers 3
Calgary 2
Toronto 3
Buffalo 2
Chicago 5
Edmonton 1
Phoenix 3
Dallas 2
Colorado 5
Vancouver 2
Tampa Bay 3
San Jose 3
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