In Calgary, the Flames’ Jacob Markstrom made 32 saves on Saturday night for a 1-0 shutout of the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.
The win snapped a four-game skid for the Flames.
“Same feeling as all the other games this year, just pucks stayed out of the net, which was nice,” Markstrom said. “Last few games we’ve had some crazy bounces and it was nice to be on the right side of those for once.”
Calgary improved to 22-22-5.
“Obviously you want to put on a better performance for your goalie, but he was dialed in tonight and he played an outstanding game,” the Flames’ Rasmus Andersson said. “Sometimes you need your goalie to steal a game and today was a perfect example of that.”
The Blackhawks have lost 20 straight on the road.
“Obviously it’s really frustrating,” Chicago’s Kevin Korchinski said. “We want to snap our road loss streak. We’ve got to bear down and maybe not put it into words, let our actions do the talking.”
Elias Lindholm was the game’s lone striker. He scored at 15:55 of the middle frame for the 1-0 lead and final.
“It’s been a while,” Lindholm said. “I had a lot of chances, just haven’t been able to put them in. It’s always nice to score again and help the team win.”
The Flames ended their homestand with a 2-4-0 record.
“This last stretch has been tough,” Lindholm said. “Our game hasn’t been good enough and when we play at home we want to play well and play good in front of our fans. We haven’t given them good reason to be here. It’s nice to get two points today and hopefully everyone refreshes, reloads, and comes back better.”
Chicago dropped to 14-34-2.
“I know we’ve had some games where we’ve had maybe more chances and more shots than the other team, but maybe not the quality,” Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. “But tonight, I think we had the quality as well. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen six breakaways in a game and zero on the score clock.
“It’s frustrating, but I told the guys we’ve got to keep playing like that and they’re going to drop, and we’ll start getting healthier and get some more help in that department. We’re playing the right way. We’re proud of how we’re playing, but it’s still the NHL and we’ve got to find results somehow.”
Petr Mrazek made 30 saves in the loss.
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