Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each scored once and had two assists for the visiting Chicago Blackhawks, who lit up the Calgary Flames for an 8-4 victory Saturday night.
Toews made quite the statement for the Blackhawks, who were shut out despite firing 49 shots at Vancouver on Wednesday. He kicked off the scoring with just 30 seconds gone, skating in off the faceoff and firing a wrister high over David Rittich’s glove.
The Flames, who fired 42 shots at Chicago goalie Robin Lehner, evened the score midway through the period when Dillon Dube threw the puck toward the Blackhawks’ net. Sam Bennett was waiting on the doorstep to slam it in past Lehner.
Dominik Kubalik continued his torrid scoring pace to put the Blackhawks ahead at the 9:17 mark. Kubalik is at the top of rookie scoring in the NHL with 23 goals.
The Flames got it back, though, less than four minutes later when Dube and Bennett connected once again, with Dube making a great lead pass to Bennett for his second of the night.
Tied at 2-2, the Blackhawks came out for the second period on fire. Brandon Saad put them ahead at the 4:24 mark, and 64 seconds later, the Flames coughed the puck up to Alex Nylander, who made it 4-2.
That goal chased Rittich from the Flames’ net for Cam Talbot. Rittich, who made 11 saves, has been pulled twice in his last three home starts. Although Elias Lindholm scored to extend his point streak to 10 games, the Blackhawks were relentless with their aggressive forecheck. Alex DeBrincat and Nylander scored within 27 seconds of each other to take a 6-3 lead into the third.
The Flames cut the deficit to two at 14:06 of the third on the power play, when Johnny Gaudreau dished the puck over to Lindholm in the high slot. Lindholm ripped it past Lehner for his second of the night.
Calgary took a big chance on a 4-on-4, pulling Talbot for an extra skater. Kane lofted the puck down the ice and scored on the empty net. Kirby Dach added one more for the Blackhawks to finish the night off.
Lightning top Flyers
Nikita Kucherov notched a goal and an assist, Tampa Bay won its 11th consecutive home game and the Lightning beat the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 on Saturday to push the NHL’s longest active winning streak to 10 straight.
Brayden Point scored a third-period goal to stretch his point streak to 10 games (three goals, 11 assists). The home victory by the Lightning broke the team record of 10 wins set in the 2014-15 campaign and improved them to 22-2-1 in their last 25 contests.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded his NHL-best 32nd win – and eighth straight – by stopping 30 shots. Alex Killorn, Cedric Paquette and Carter Verhaeghe also tallied for Tampa Bay. Kucherov returned for the Lightning after missing a game with a lower-body injury. Steven Stamkos, who missed the previous three games with a lower-body injury, recorded two assists.
Ivan Provorov, James van Riemsdyk and Claude Giroux scored for the Flyers. Goalie Carter Hart made 19 saves. Philadelphia lost its seventh straight (0-4-3) against Tampa, dating back to January 2018. Early in the first, Killorn attempted a shot from a bad angle to Hart’s left, but the puck bounced off defenseman Provorov’s skate and right back to Killorn. The Lightning wing then popped in his 22nd goal of the season at 3:17.
The home side’s third line made it 2-0 at 14:55 when Pat Maroon stole the puck behind the Flyers’ goal and dished it over to Tyler Johnson, who found Paquette alone in front of Hart for his sixth goal.
Victor Hedman led a 4-on-2 rush early in the second and slid a pass to Verhaeghe, who netted his eighth goal at 2:35 to give Tampa Bay a three-goal edge. Provorov’s marker on the man advantage at 8:57 cut into the lead, and Giroux’s assist – his 234th power-play helper – tied Bobby Clarke for the franchise record.
Vasilevskiy stopped Sean Couturier’s short-handed try at 1:51 of the third and denied him again in close at 5:08 on Philadelphia’s fourth power play. Point appeared to seal the win at 12:34, but van Riemsdyk and Giroux both scored in the final five minutes.
Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane (right) and Calgary Flames’ Zac Rinaldo (left) battle for the puck during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. PICTURE: USA TODAY SportsBlackhawks rack up 8 goals to sink Flames
