CHICAGO (AP) -- Tony Amonte took one on the chin, a slashing hockey stick from a source he never expected -- his longtime friend and former Chicago teammate Jeremy Roenick.

"I didn't see it coming," a stitched-up Amonte said Friday night. "I'm just upset. You never know what's going to happen out there during the game."

	Mike Sullivan and his Phoenix teammates found themselves in a physical battle with the Blackhawks Friday.

Roenick got a match penalty. And minutes after he was involved in a fight with the retaliating Blackhawks led by Alex Zhamnov, he left the ice bleeding from the mouth and screaming profanities, apparently at Amonte.

Even without Roenick, the Phoenix Coyotes scored two late third-period goals within a 25-second span to get a 3-3 tie in the Blackhawks' home opener.

"J.R. is an intense guy and Amonte is an intense guy. Things happen on the ice," said the Coyotes' Rick Tocchet, who scored the tying goal.

"I think J.R. just kind of slashed him. He wouldn't slash a guy in the face if he had a problem with a guy, he'd fight him. It's just a situation where he tried to hack a guy."

Roenick, who was also a high school teammate of Amonte's, refused to comment after the game.

"He went to get Amonte's hands and the stick came up. That's all I saw," Phoenix coach Bob Francis said.

The Coyotes trailed 3-1 at the time and appeared on the way to their first loss this season.

Phoenix made it 3-2 with 5:45 left on Juha Ylonen's backhander from right in front of the net and scored again 25 seconds later when Tocchet tipped in a shot on a give-and-go pass from Trevor Letkowski in the right circle.

The Blackhawks remained winless at 0-2-1.

Seconds after Roenick hit Amonte with his stick, Alex Zhamnov collided with Roenick and they went into the boards, where a fight erupted between several players.

"I don't know what he was thinking when he slashed Tony," Zhamnov said. "I'm not a hero. Everybody would do the same. We are a team and we fight for each other.

"If somebody slashed me, Tony would fight for me."

Chicago had a 10-1 shots-on-goal advantage in the second period, breaking a 1-1 tie with two goals -- Zhamnov from the slot on a pass from Amonte and J.P Dumont on a rebound of his own miss.

But then Phoenix rallied without Roenick.

The Coyotes scored first, 54 seconds into the game, when Greg Adams came up with a loose puck in the left circle and shot it past Jocelyn Thibault.

But Chicago tied it 40 seconds later when Bryan Muir made a steal and passed to Eric Daze, who broke free on the left side and beat Coyotes goaltender Mikhail Shtalenkov one-on-one.

Beginning in the preseason, the Blakhawks have earned a reputation for rough -- some would say dirty -- play. Washington general manager George McPhee, incensed by Chicago's tactics during an exhibition game, punched Blakhawks coach Lorne Molleken after the game, drawing a $20,000 fine and month's suspension.

And in Chicago's season-opening 7-1 loss at San Jose, a brawl erupted near the end of the game, leading to the suspensions of Dave Manson and Bob Probert.

This time, however, the Blackhawks were reacting to Roenick's blow on Amonte, their scoring leader the last three years.