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Blackhawks end 5-game skid with 8-4 win against Flames

Posted on by Matt Lucas

The Blackhawks scored eight goals for the first time this season to end their season-long five-game winless streak with a 8-4 win against the Flames on Saturday at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each recored three points with a goal and two assists, Alex Nylander scored two goals and Alex DeBrincat scored his first even-strength goal since Dec. 27.

Robin Lehner made 38 saves to win his first start in four games for Chicago (26-24-8).

How it Happened

The Blackhawks opened the scoring on the first shift of the game for the second time in four games. Slater Koekkoek wrapped the puck around the boards to Dominik Kubalik, who tipped it off the wall to Toews in the neutral zone. Toews caught the puck in stride, sped into the offensive zone and rifled a wrist shot past David Rittich’s glove for a 1-0 lead 30 seconds into the game.

Sam Bennett dangled past Adam Boqvist on an offensive zone entry and then tapped home a backdoor feed from Dillon Dube at 2:07.

Kubalik scored his 23rd goal this season five seconds after the Blackhawks power play expired for a 2-1 lead at 9:17. Kane cycled the puck to Toews, who deked out Michael Stone, protected the puck and then made a slick pass to Kubalik in the low slot.

Like earlier in the period, Calgary answered right back. On a puck flipped out of the Flames’ defensive zone, Dube impressively whacked the puck out of mid-air from the neutral zone and made a perfect breakaway pass to Bennett, who beat Lehner for his second goal of the game to tie it 2-2.

Saad nearly scored his third short-handed goal this season on a breakaway, but Rittich made a glove save. Then, Toews channeled his inner Kane and used a spin-o-rama to earn a backhand shot attempt.

Chicago scored two goals in 64 seconds to open the scoring in a four goal second period for the Blackhawks. At the end of a dominant shift by Kane, Saad and Ryan Carpenter, Kane  got three Calgary defenders to puck watch and snapped a pass to a wide-open Saad backdoor. Saad faked a shot then slid the puck through Rittich’s five-hole for his 10th goal in his last 14 games.

Nylander intercepted a pass and beat Rittich for his first goal since Jan. 19 to make it 4-2.

Cam Talbot then replaced Rittich, who gave up four goals on 15 shots.

The Flames gained some momentum from the goalie change and used a strong push to trim the Blackhawks lead to 4-3 when Elias Lindholm overpowered Boqvist on a rebound opportunity.

After killing off Toews’ slashing penalty, Chicago made a push of their own and scored two goals in 27 seconds.

Dylan Strome forced a turnover behind the Flames’ net and found Alex DeBrincat in the low slot with a great backhand pass for a 5-3 lead at 17:47. DeBrincat one-timed it past Talbot for his fifth even strength goal of the season.

Matthew Highmore dug a puck out of two board battles and found Nylander in the high slot, who scored his second goal of the game for a 6-3 lead at 18:14.

It was a great shift from the fourth line that scored two goals and had a 50.0 Corsi-For at five-on-five.

In the third period, the Blackhawks came this close to capitalizing on their third power play of the game:

Calgary made it interesting when Lindholm scored on the power play for his second goal at 14:06. The Flames made another strong push, but Lehner stepped up and made a handful of quality saves.

Kane scored into an empty net for his 26th goal of the season at 16:48. Then, Kirby Dach added his eighth career goal after a nice drag move and shot from Drake Caggiula on a 3-on-2 rush.

Game Charts

Three stars

1. Jonathan Toews (CHI) – One goal, two assists, +3, won 72-percent of his faceoffs

2. Alex Nylander (CHI) – Two goals

3. Sam Bennett (CGY) – Two goals

What’s next?

The Blackhawks finish their five-game Western Canada road trip against the Jets at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg.

Talking Points