Flames 5 Blackhawks 2
CALGARY — Matthew Tkachuk’s goal late in the third period broke a 2-2 tie as the Calgary Flames remained red hot on Tuesday with a 5-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
The game-winner came on a fortuitous bounce at the 14:25 mark as Tkachuk’s centring pass went off the skate of Chicago defenceman Seth Jones and over the shoulder of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
Dillon Dube, Milan Lucic and a pair of empty netters from Trevor Lewis and Johnny Gaudreau rounded out the scoring for Calgary (12-3-5).
Reese Johnson had a goal and an assist — his first two NHL points — to lead the offence for Chicago (6-11-2). Brandon Hagel also scored.
Jacob Markstrom had 19 saves as the Flames extended their win streak to four games. Calgary sits alone atop the Western Conference.
Coming off a 40-save shutout against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday, Marc-Andre Fleury had a tough start to the night, getting beat twice on the first six shots before slamming the door until late in the third. He finished with 34 stops and fell to 5-8-0.
Both Blackhawk goals were the result of costly turnovers.
After the Flames grabbed the lead just 1:19 into the game, Hagel tied it at 8:57 when Tyler Pitlick coughed up the puck along the sideboards and Hagel whipped a quick shot into the top corner.
Lucic’s goal at 13:06 gave Calgary a 2-1 lead after the first period, but Chicago tied it 3:51 into the second on another freebie.
From behind the net, Markstrom’s pass attempt to Elias Lindholm went off the heel of Lindholm’s stick and was promptly fired into the open net by Johnson.
After that miscue, Markstrom made a string of saves to keep the game tied.
First, he squeezed a dangerous shot from Patrick Kane from 20 feet out as he broke in off the right wing.
On his next shift, Kane got a breakaway, only to see Markstrom to turn him aside again, getting a blocker on a shot that also ticked off the post.
Later in the period, Markstrom jabbed out his pad to make a skate save on Kirby Dach. Right after that, he acrobatically got across the crease to rob Hagel after he was set up on a two-on-one by Jonathan Toews.
Dube opened the scoring on Calgary’s first shot when he fired a wrist shot off the left wing just over the pad of Fleury.
NOTES: Johnson’s goal was the first that the Flames’ top line of Lindholm, Gaudreau and Tkachuk have surrendered at five-on-five all season. … Calgary improves to 12-1-3 when scoring first while the Blackhawks fall to 0-9-1 when falling behind 1-0. … Chicago captain Jonathan Toews has yet to score in 19 games. Having sat out last season, his last goal was on March 5, 2020.