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We Didn’t Start the Fire: Flames 3, Blackhawks 1

Credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

The Blackhawks ended a season-opening, four-game road trip with just one win after the Calgary Flames remained among the ranks of the league’s unbeaten teams with a 3-1 win on Tuesday night.

After a largely quiet first 15 minutes of the game, the Flames jumped ahead when Matt Coronato hopped on a loose puck and took advantage of an out-of-position Petr Mrazek (probably not helped by his teammates getting in his way) for a goal that made it 1-0:

The Calgary lead lasted all of 10 seconds, though, as Nick Foligno tied the game when he redirected a Seth Jones point shot into the Calgary net:

In the second period, Calgary notched what proved to be the decisive goal when Andrei Kuzmenko got his stick on this Connor Zary point shot to make it a 2-1 Calgary advantage:

Here’s Connor Murphy introducing Calgary rookie Samuel Honzek to the NHL in the third period:

Hits happened for the Blackhawks but goals did not and Coronato added his second of the night with an empty-netter to run the Flames’ unblemished record to 4-0.

Notes

<Insert rant here regarding CHSN’s continued lack of carriage agreements with major cable providers in the Chicagoland area which remains an incredibly insulting disservice to fans of this team>

One game after the Blackhawks rode an explosive night on the power play to a decisive win, a power-play goal against was the game-winner in a loss. Funny how those things evened out so quickly, eh?

Bedard had several good looks at the net with that curl, drag and release he’s so good at it, which contributed to the seven shots he had on goal in this game. Feels like he won’t have too many nights without a goal if those opportunities continue to arrive.

The possession numbers all lean in Chicago’s favor this evening and some of that can be attributed to the Blackhawks being the team chasing on the scoreboard for the final 30-plus minutes. But there were also plenty of games last season where they were behind and still never had the puck. Despite the higher quantity of possession, though, it didn’t feel like the Blackhawks did enough to generate quality scoring chances. That lack of quality is somewhat communicated by the heatmap below, where lack of color near the Calgary net is indicative of the Blackhawks not making Dustin Wolf’s job difficult enough this evening. Consequently, only one goal on the scoreboard.

Probably won’t be the only game this season where the Blackhawks are within striking distance at the end but don’t have enough firepower to get the goal they need. The offense will continue to be an issue for this team until proven otherwise.

One more thing:

Better team? Prove it.

Game Charts

Three Stars

  1. Matt Coronato (CGY) — 2 goals
  2. Nick Foligno (CHI) — 1 goal
  3. Dustin Wolf (CGY) — 31 saves on 32 shots

What’s Next

The Blackhawks will play their first game of the season at the United Center on Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks at 7:30 p.m.

Talking Points