Lindholm leads Flames past Blackhawks 2-1

Matthew Tkachuk had two assists for Calgary (23-17-5), which lost 5-3 to Chicago in their first meeting of the season on New Year’s Eve. Cam Talbot made 31 saves in the finale of the Flames’ two-game trip with their fathers and other mentors.

“It’s always special to have them on the road,” Talbot said in a crowded visitors’ locker room. “To be able to pull out two big wins, obviously where we are in the standings, was huge, but it’s more fun to do it when they’re up here watching.”

The Blackhawks (19-19-6) lost key forward Dylan Strome to a right ankle injury early in the second period. Strome has 10 goals and 20 assists in 40 games this season.

“We’ll probably see tomorrow how it looks,” coach Jeremy Colliton said. “I’m not sure we’ll have an exact date then either, but we’ll know if it’s days or weeks.”

Dominik Kubalik scored his 13th goal for Chicago, which had won four of five during one of its best stretches of the season. Corey Crawford stopped 26 shots.

The Flames had two 5-on-3 power plays totalling 2:22 and came up empty. Crawford denied Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan with a pair of terrific saves early in the third.

The Blackhawks replaced Crawford with an extra attacker with about two minutes left, but the Flames held on.

“It was there for us to take and we just couldn’t come up with it,” Crawford said.

Tkachuk and Lindholm connected for both Calgary goals in the second.

Lindholm tied it at 1 just 14 seconds into the period. Tkachuk found the 25-year-old forward in the slot, and he slid the puck between Crawford’s legs for his team-high 17th of the season.

A turnover by Chicago star Patrick Kane led to the tiebreaking goal with 3:59 left. Tkachuk sent the puck over to Lindholm in the left circle and he converted a one-timer.

“Good passes by Chucky,” Lindholm said. “The first one was lucky and the second was just another lucky shot. If I get 30 more, I don’t think I’ll score one more of those. Yeah, it was a nice shot.”

It was a nice turnaround for Calgary after Chicago controlled much of the action in the first. The Blackhawks outshot the Flames 14-6 in the period, taking on 1-0 lead on Kubalik’s deflection in front with 32 seconds left.

NOTES: Blackhawks G Robin Lehner missed his second straight game with a right knee injury, but he was on the ice for part of the morning skate. … Flames forward Zac Rinaldo and D Oliver Kylington returned to the lineup. D Michael Stone and forward Tobias Rieder were scratched. … Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said there is no reason to think forward Andrew Shaw (concussion) is done for the season. Shaw hasn’t played since Nov. 30. “It’s not really fair to speculate because nobody really knows,” Bowman said. “We just follow the doctor’s progression to play, and whenever that is, then we’ll welcome him back.” … Blackhawks forward Alex Nylander played after he was a healthy scratch the previous three games. Matthew Highmore came out of the lineup.

UP NEXT

Flames: Host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.

Blackhawks: Host the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.

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Jay Cohen can be reached at https://twitter.com/jcohenap

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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Jay Cohen, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Lindholm leads Flames past Blackhawks 2-1

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