Jacob Markstrom recorded his second shutout of the season and the Calgary Flames snapped a four-game skid with a 1-0 victory over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
Elias Lindholm scored the lone goal for the Flames, who won their final game before All-Star break. Markstrom made 32 saves — 12 in the third period — to post his 20th career shutout.
Goaltender Petr Mrazek stopped 30 shots for the Blackhawks, who have lost four straight games overall and are now winless in 20 road tilts (0-19-1).
Chicago, which has been decimated by injuries — with rookie star Connor Bedard among those on the shelf — has been shut out in two consecutive games and in three of their past four outings, all during this now completed four-game road trip. The Blackhawks have been held to two or fewer goals in nine of their past 10 games and have scored only 10 goals in those outings.
Lindholm, Calgary’s representative at the upcoming All-Star festivities, snapped a 15-game goal-scoring drought when he opened the scoring on the power play at 15:55 of the second period. Yegor Sharangovich’s shot from the slot was blocked by a defender, but the puck came to Lindholm at the side of the net, and he buried the chance for his ninth goal of the season.
Markstrom, after a disappointing performance two nights earlier in Calgary’s loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, was full marks for the shutout.
Through the first half of the game, the Calgary netminder delivered a steady stream of highlight-reel saves. He denied a handful of Blackhawks on breakaways or wide-open chances, among them Boris Katchouk, Lukas Reichel, Colin Blackwell and Philipp Kurashev.
Markstrom even capped the clash with game-saving stops on Kurashev and Jason Dickinson in the final seconds to seal the deal.
Mrazek delivered a strong performance of his own in keeping the Blackhawks in the game all the way to the end, drumming up big saves on Noah Hanifin and Andrew Mangiapane.
–Field Level Media
