Petr Mrazek made 33 stops for Chicago to get the win. He’s 9-21-3.
Markstrom made 19 stops for Calgary. Starting for the 16th time in the last 17 video games, his record is up to 22-21-10.
Tied 2-2 after 40 minutes, Chicago took its 3rd lead of the night at 1:43 of the 3rd making the most of the 2nd expensive error of the night by Flames’ centre Nazem Kadri.
With control of the puck in the neutral zone, Kadri had actually the puck taken off his support Athanasiou, who raced previous him and in on a two-on-one, where he rounded off a give-and-go with Lukas Reichel.
That’s objectives in 3 straight video games for Athanasiou, who prior to that had actually gone 14 video games without scoring. He’s got 18 objectives on the season.
Eighty-8 seconds later on, the Blackhawks opened their very first two-goal lead of the night when a bouncing puck hopped previous Rasmus Andersson inside the Chicago outcome in another two-on-one. This time, Wagner kept the puck himself, toe-dragging around moving defenceman MacKenzie Weegar, and shooting a shot past Markstrom.
Backlund’s objective at 13:09 that caromed off Chicago defenceman Ian Mitchell got the Flames back to within one, however that’s as close as they would get regardless of soaking the pressure in the last couple minutes with the goalie pulled.
In a video game Calgary needed to have, the home side was flat in the very first duration, falling back 2-1 and being outshot 11-7.
The Flames battled back momentum in the 2nd duration, outshooting the visitors 19-4 and scoring the only objective to pull even.
At 11:44 after Wagner’s turnover inside the Chicago blue line, a slick death series in between linemates Jonathan Huberdeau and Blake Coleman culminated in the puck landing on the tape of Hanifin cutting through the slot and he fired a shot past Mrazek.
Calgary had a terrific opportunity to take its very first lead in the last minute, however off a cross-ice setup from Toffoli, Elias Lindholm’s shot was kicked aside by Mrazek, who extended to get his toe on the unsafe shot.
Chicago opened the scoring 5:09 into the video game when Reichel established Athanasiou as he curled out of the corner and he buried his 17th objective of the season inside the far goalpost.
Calgary returned to even at 11:52 when Toffoli’s swipe at a loose puck in front, sent it fluttering over Mrazek.
The Blackhawks retook the lead with 38 seconds left in the very first, making the most of a free gift by Kadri, who with one hand, attempted to poke the puck along completion boards, however it was obstructed by Boris Katchouk, who established Khaira in front.
TANEV MAKES IMPRESSION IN RETURN
Calgary invited seasoned defenceman Chris Tanev (upper-body injury) back to their top-four on the blue line after he missed out on 6 video games. Playing on a coupling with Hanifin, Tanev got a holler from the Saddledome crowd in the very first duration when he tossed a heavy open-ice hit on Jason Dickinson.
CHICAGO SUPREMACY
In addition to sweeping the season series, Chicago enhances to 9-2-4 in their last 15 video games versus the Flames.
UPCOMING
Blackhawks: Travel to Vancouver to play the Canucks on Thursday.
Flames: Are back in action Wednesday, playing the Jets in Winnipeg.
This report by The Canadian Press was very first released April 4, 2023.
Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press
