Blackhawks power past Blues for 3-1 road win

ST. LOUIS -- Steve Thomas' broken ankle left a void in the Chicago Blackhawks' attack, and little-used Mike Peluso helped fill it.

Peluso, playing in only his 15th game, got the Blackhawks rolling with an early goal in a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night. He was a healthy scratch on Sunday, when the Blackhawks lost 5-0 to Detroit and Thomas was hurt.

"A guy goes down, certain guys are going to get a chance to play," Peluso said. "You fill in as best you can. But you can't replace Steve, let's be honest."

Thomas, who has seven goals and 11 points in 22 games, is not expected back until at least February.

"Obviously, it was kind of a downer when he breaks his ankle," coach Brian Sutter said. "It's important for Peluso, you're darned right it is."

Tony Amonte's power-play goal snapped a third-period tie and Mark Bell added an insurance goal for the Blackhawks, who have won four of five.

Amonte scored his 13th goal and first in six games at 1:16. With Pavol Demitra off for holding, Amonte converted a tap-in from in front of the net off a feed from Steve Sullivan after the Blackhawks worked the puck around.

"It was a great pass and it was a great play all around," Amonte said. "It's not very often you make four or five passes in a row like that, but it just worked out well for us."

Daniel Corso, who was a healthy scratch for six of the Blues' previous eight games, scored for St. Louis.

Chicago, which got 22 saves from Jocelyn Thibeault, trails the first-place Red Wings by seven points and leads the third-place Blues by seven points in the Central Division.

The Blackhawks got off only three shots in the third period, but scored on the first two.

"That's pretty tough," Blues goalie Brent Johnson said. "I didn't even know they had three."

The teams have been bitter rivals over the years, but this game had only four penalties, none in the first period. The Blues were 0-for-2 with the man advantage with no shots and are 1-for-18 the last four games.

Peluso gave the Blackhawks an early lead at 5:11 of the first, tapping in a feed from Alexander Karpovtsev for his third goal.

The Blues' checking line tied it at 8:43 of the second with Corso beating Thibeault on a break-in for his second goal.

A giveaway by rookie defenseman Mike Van Ryn in the St. Louis zone led to Bell's ninth goal at 13:07 of the third. Bell broke in alone on Brent Johnson. Van Ryn also got dragged down behind the St. Louis net before he could touch the puck for icing, on Peluso's goal.