RECAP: Blackhawks Down Flames, 5-3

The Blackhawks closed out 2019 with a 5-3 win over the Flames in Calgary on Tuesday night, courtesy of a three-point night from Patrick Kane and goal-and-assist performances from Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome.
It was the third win in a row for Chicago and the sixth in the last eight games to reach the halfway point of the season.

CHI 5, CGY 3
WRITTEN
Full Box Score
THREE THINGS: Decade's Best, Out of the Gate and Gritty Area
THE VERDICT: The Decade of the Blackhawks
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**HIGHLIGHTS**: CHI 5, CGY 3
**REACTION**: Kane, Lehner, DeBrincat and Colliton
WATCH: The Decade of the Blackhawks
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GALLERY: Blackhawks at Flames
GALLERY: Best Photos of the Decade
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Patrick Kane's four-point night jumpstarted Chicago's offense early and often, pushing his decade NHL scoring lead to 802 points (315G, 487A).
STAT OF THE NIGHT: The win was Chicago's 427th and final regular season victory of the decade, seventh most in the NHL during the 2010s.
UP NEXT: Chicago opens up the second half of the season against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night at 9 p.m. CT

GAME RECAP

The Blackhawks got the New Year's Eve party going early and often in the opening frame. Kane found Olli Maatta wide open on the weak-side point just 4:14 into the game, where the defenseman took a quick wrister to beat David Rittich for a 1-0 lead.

Alex DeBrincat doubled the lead just over a minute later on the power play from the slot. Kane found Dylan Strome sneaking below the goal line on the man advantage and Strome quickly found DeBrincat in the slot for a one-timer and a 2-0 lead at 5:35.

Already with two assists on the night, Kane added a goal of his own at 12:44 of the opeing period, taking a Dylan Sikura feed and weaving across the top of the slot before firing a shot into the back of the net for a 3-0 lead.

Robin Lehner kept a goose egg on the board off off the rush with just under five minutes to play in the first. On a 2-on-1 break, Derek Ryan slid a puck past a diving Connor Murphy to Johnny Gaudreau with a wide-open goal in front of him. Lehner dove across the goal mouth and saved a would-be goal with the padde of his stick to keep it 3-0.

Strome kept things going in the second period, making it a 4-0 game at 9:41 with the two sides playing 4-on-4. Connor Murphy chipped a puck from the corner in his own end to DeBrincat, who skated the puck out of Chicago's end and sent a backhand saucer pass across the neutral zone to Strome. Strome walked into the zone with space and fired a shot from the top of the circle to beat Rittich up high for the fourth goal.

Calgary got on the board in the dying seconds as Ryan picked up a puck off the end boards and found Sam Bennett through traffic in front for a quick one-timer to break the road team's shutout.
Former Blackhawk Michael Frolik capitalized off an Elias Lindholm-forced turnover behind the Chicago net to cut the lead to 4-2 at 15:30 of the final frame.
With the extra attacker on, Sean Monahan slid home a rebound at 16:38 of the third to cut the lead to 4-3 for the visitors.
Kane added his second of the night with an empty netter with half a second on the clock to make the final 5-3