Nick Foligno kicked off the scoring less than three minutes into Thursday’s game, but that was all the offense the Chicago Blackhawks could muster up. The Calgary Flames responded with three unanswered goals to defeat the Blackhawks 3-1 at the United Center.
Since a seven-goal outpour against the St. Louis Blues on Jan. 7, the Blackhawks have now totaled just six goals in their last four games. Three of those six tallies occurred in a win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday. They’ve scored just one goal in each of the three other games, which all have resulted in losses.
While the Blackhawks made a late push in Monday’s loss to the Edmonton Oilers, they weren’t able to do the same in the third period against Calgary. To their credit, the Flames did a tremendous job of clogging up the neutral zone and forcing the Hawks to dump the puck in, rather than enter the offensive zone with speed. There wasn’t much sustained pressure from the home side in the final 20 minutes, as they recorded only five shots on goal. Chicago also failed to record a single high-danger scoring chance in the period.
“Where I thought we really got disconnected was in the third more than anything else,” head coach Jeff Blashill said after the game. “We had momentum coming out of the second, had some real looks, didn’t score but it felt like we had a little momentum and couldn’t carry that over in the third… Definitely seemed like we couldn’t generate O-zone time. We couldn’t end up with any kind of tilt-the-ice situation.”
A rare shoddy performance from the Blackhawks’ special teams department also played a key factor in the loss, which is their second in a row to begin a four-game homestand.
After having scored a power-play goal in six of their last eight games, the man advantage went 0-for-4 on the night and had only one shot on goal. To add insult to injury, Calgary’s game-winning goal came while they were shorthanded, as Mikael Backlund forced a shorthanded breakaway and beat Spencer Knight one-on-one.
Coming into Thursday, Chicago’s penalty kill had been perfect in 2026, going 16-for-16 through seven games. But on the Flames’ first power-play chance of the game, it took only 10 seconds for Yegor Sharangovich to tie the score 1-1. Sharangovich’s goal came just 36 seconds after Foligno put the Blackhawks ahead 1-0.
The difference in the final result was two, and that’s how many the Hawks were outscored by on special teams. In the midst of an ice-cold stretch at five-on-five, they cannot afford to play that poorly on the power play or penalty kill.
“We’ve done a pretty good job of either winning games or putting ourselves in really good position on special teams over the course of the season,” Blashill said. “Tonight, we were minus-2 in special teams. It’s hard to win games in this league without a great amount of firepower when you lose that special-teams battle by two like that.”
Here are the highlights from the Blackhawks’ 3-1 loss to the Flames, dropping their record to 19-21-7 through 47 games.
FIRST PERIOD
Thursday’s game started with a bang, as the Blackhawks opened the scoring for just the second time in their last six games. Foligno took in a drop pass from Colton Dach and roofed a shot over Devin Cooley’s glove for his second goal of the season at 2:38. 1-0, Chicago. Love some fourth-line production.
The Blackhawks’ lead only lasted 36 seconds, however, as the Flames responded right back to tie the game 1-1 on the power play. Matt Grzelcyk was whistled for interference, and it took only 10 seconds for Calgary to convert on the man advantage.
On a scramble in front of Knight, Backlund swept the puck over to Sharangovich to level the score at 3:14. It’s the first power-play goal the Blackhawks have surrendered since Dec. 30.
Mackenzie Weegar was whistled for a pair of penalties in a five-minute stretch to give the Blackhawks two prime opportunities to grab the lead back. But the Hawks’ power play struggled mightily to enter the offensive zone on both chances, leading to two simple kills for Calgary.
To make matters worse, the Flames scored a short-handed goal to grab a one-goal lead. Backlund stripped Andre Burakovsky at center ice for a breakaway, and he made a nifty move to get Knight down and out to make it 2-1 at 6:05.
Chicago’s special teams let them down in the opening 20 minutes. The Flames only had six shots on goal but managed to score twice — once on the power play, and once while shorthanded. The Blackhawks led 9-6 in shots on goal.
SECOND PERIOD
The Blackhawks’ power play continued to struggle in the second period, as they failed to convert on another two penalties committed by Calgary. One of the few quality chances generated came from Tyler Bertuzzi, who cleanly beat Cooley with a backhanded shot from in tight. Sadly, the puck clanged off the post and bounced towards the corner. Still 2-1 Flames.
After a quiet first half of the game, Connor Bedard started to pick up his play late in the second period. With under four minutes to play, he made a nimble spin-o-rama move to dodge an oncoming defender and feed Burakovsky for a one-timer. Once again though, Cooley came up with the stop, getting to the near post just in time to rob Burakovsky.
It’s been a chippy season series between the Blackhawks and Flames so far, and the two teams rekindled their hatred in the final moments of the period.
First, Connor Murphy laid a massive hit on Joel Farabee at center ice, leading to the two players dropping the gloves for a scrap. Murphy looked a little banged up after making contact with Farabee, but he still courageously accepted the fight. He ended up getting the better of Farabee, landing two or three big lefts before dragging him down to the ice.
Less than one minute later, Kevin Bahl crunched Oliver Moore at center ice, leading to another skirmish. Ryan Donato took exception to the hit and immediately went after Bahl along the boards. Donato ended up with a four-minute penalty, while Artyom Levshunov also got tagged for making contact with an official.
Neither team scored in the second stanza, but there was still plenty of action. The Flames led 2-1 and held a slight 18-17 advantage in scoring chances in all situations going into the intermission.
THIRD PERIOD
Chicago’s offense struggled to carry the puck into Calgary’s end during the final frame. There wasn’t much time or space given by the visitors, making life difficult for the Hawks to comeback.
One of the few threating chances that the Hawks received came during a two-on-two rush led by Burakovsky. As he skated into the offensive zone, he let go of a powerful wrist shot, but Flames’ defenseman Mackenzie Weegar stepped into the shooting lane and never let the puck get on net. He dropped down in a world of pain and needed to be helped off the ice by his teammates.
The Blackhawks pulled Knight with 1:59 remaining in the period, but they never could get set up with the extra attacker. Burakovsky turned the puck over while trying to make a pass to Grzelcyk at the blue line, and the Flames countered in transition to seal the game. Matt Coronato, who scored the last time these two teams faced at the United Center, squeaked a shot past Levshunov to hit the empty net. 3-1, Calgary.
The final horn sounded, signaling a second straight loss for the Blackhawks on home ice. After three goals were scored in the first 6:05 of the game, Coronato’s empty netter was the only tally over the final 53:55.
The Blackhawks return to action next on Saturday for an Original Six matchup with the Boston Bruins. As a reminder, the team will be celebrating chapter three of its Centennial Season, honoring “The Banner Years”. It’s also Duncan Keith bobblehead night at the United Center.
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