Home » NHL TEAMS » Blackhawks » RECAP: Blackhawks fall to Flames 3–1 to end season-opening road trip

RECAP: Blackhawks fall to Flames 3–1 to end season-opening road trip

  
RECAP: Blackhawks fall to Flames 3–1 to end season-opening road trip
Matt Coronato celebrates a goal as the Calgary Flames proved to be too much in a 3–1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in Alberta on Tuesday night. (Photo courtesy of the Calgary Flames)

After a surprising 5–2 victory in Edmonton on Saturday night, the Chicago Blackhawks headed south to Calgary to take on the 3–0–0 Calgary Flames for a Tuesday night matchup. Through three games, Calgary was averaging 5.33 goals per game, which could be quite the task for Chicago goaltender Petr Mrazek. Calgary Head Coach Ryan Huska gave Dustin Wolf the start in net for the home team.

Here is a look at Luke Richardson lineup for the game.

First period

The game started with some solid end-to-end action that resulted in some entertaining hockey for fans. Chicago did not take advantage of the only power play of the period, and a few moments later, Calgary took the early 1–0 lead when forward Matt Coronato scored his first goal of the season at the 16:01 mark. Defenseman Rasmus Andersson fired a shot on net that bounced and ended up behind the Blackhawks’ net. Mrazek, caught sliding 12 feet out of his crease, allowed Coronato to corral the puck off the end boards and stuff it home as defenseman Alex Vlasic tried his best to help out his wandering goaltender.

Only 10 seconds later, captain Nick Foligno won the draw back to Alec Martinez in the offensive zone, proving faceoffs are important, who slung the puck over to Seth Jones, who fired a shot on net that was tipped by Foligno as he went to the front of the net, exactly what should be done after winning the draw. The Foligno goal was his second of the season and tied the game 1–1, which is where we stood at the end of the period.

Second period

Chicago pulled off the impressive penalty hat trick in the third period as Philipp Kurashev, Connor Bedard and Foligno were all whistled for infractions. The Blackhawks killed off the first penalty but were unable to take advantage of the Foligno slash on Jonathan Huberdeau to make it 6-on-4 and take a 2–1 lead at the 12:32 mark of the middle frame, with Bedard still in the box. The goal, scored by Andrei Kuzmenko, was assisted by Huberdeau and Connor Zary.

After two periods of action Chicago led in shots 22–20, while the Flames led in scoring chances 25–20.

Third period

Chicago looked like a team tired from a long road trip and could not even the score on the second penalty Foligno drew this game when Brayden Pachal was called for high-sticking. After some end-to-end action that saw Calgary do a nice job of limiting Chicago, the Flames finished off the visitors when Coronato scored his second goal of the game after the Blackhawks pulled Mrazek.

Overall, Mrazek played well, stopping 23 of the 25 shots he faced in the 3–1 Calgary victory.

Analysis

Foligno was all over the ice and was rewarded with his second goal of the season. The captain won six of his 10 faceoffs and also drew two penalties. The “lead by example” forward has been playing well overall early in the season.

Chicago came into the game with a hot power play that would ultimately go cold in both their attempts. After the game, Foligno told reporters that he thought the team played well enough to win but the lost the power play battle, as the Flames scored once in their three chances with the man advantage.

Chicago finally gets the chance to skate on home ice as the San Jose Sharks come to town for a 7:30 p.m. CDT puck drop on Thursday.

Leave a Reply