CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Connor Bedard had a goal and three assists, while Spencer Knight stopped 33 shots for his first shutout of the season, leading the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-0 victory over the Calgary Flames on Friday night.
Tyler Bertuzzi scored twice, and Andre Burakovsky also found the net for Chicago, which secured its second straight win after a three-game losing streak. Knight earned his sixth career shutout in the game.
For Calgary, Dustin Wolf made 23 saves in goal. The Flames had just come off a season-high five-goal performance in a win over Columbus on Wednesday. However, they were held to fewer than two goals for the sixth time this season and remain the NHL’s lowest-scoring team at 2.19 goals per game. Currently, Calgary sits at the bottom of the league’s overall standings.
Bertuzzi, riding the momentum from his third-period hat trick on Wednesday in Vancouver, opened the scoring with 7:28 remaining in the first period. This marked his fourth goal in two periods. The score stayed 1-0 until Chicago pulled away with a three-goal third period.
The Bedard-to-Bertuzzi connection struck again at 1:11 in the third period. On a 2-on-1 break, Bedard sent a perfect pass across the ice, and Bertuzzi one-timed it into the top corner, extending the lead to 2-0.
Bedard continued to shine by setting up Burakovsky at 7:56 of the third, then scoring an unassisted goal himself with 1:59 remaining for his ninth goal of the season.
Chicago’s Frank Nazar left the game late in the first period after going down awkwardly following a cross-check from Joel Farabee. The 21-year-old center has had a strong start to his second NHL season with five goals and six assists.
Up next:
– Blackhawks: at Detroit on Sunday
– Flames: at Minnesota on Sunday