Lindholm scores twice in 500th NHL game, Flames defeat Blackhawks

CHICAGO --Elias Lindholm scored two goals in his 500th NHL game, and the Calgary Flames won their third straight, 2-1 against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Tuesday.

Cam Talbot made 31 saves and Matthew Tkachuk had two assists for Calgary (23-17-5), which has won seven of its past eight road games.
"We seem to keep the game real simple on the road," Flames coach Geoff Ward said. "We] keep it moving ahead. We've gotten some timely scoring on the road. When we need a goal we're able to find a way to get it, and that certainly helps."
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Lindholm tied the game 1-1 when he scored from the slot 14 seconds into the second period, then gave the Flames a 2-1 lead with a one-timer from the left circle at 16:01.
"It was just another game for me," Lindholm said. "Obviously it was special to have all the mentors and dads here. Overall, it was just another game, and I was happy to get the [win]."

Dominik Kubalik scored for Chicago (19-19-6), which has lost two of three since a 5-3 win at Calgary on Dec. 31. Corey Crawford made 26 saves.
"It was just a close game," Crawford said. "Tough one to lose. It was a good game. It was close, it was there for us to take and I just couldn't come up with it."
Kubalik redirected Adam Boqvist's shot from the point to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 19:28 of the first period.
"[I] really liked our first period," Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. "[I] thought we got a lot of pucks to the net, had some traffic at the net, that's how we ended up scoring and pretty good position."
Talbot, who started for a second straight game, made 12 saves in the second period. Chicago was held to six shots in the third.
"I saw a lot of good things," Talbot said. "We didn't give up a whole lot in the first. In the second, we knew they were going to have a little bit of a push, which they did, but we weathered it. Then in the third, that's how you have to lock down leads. I don't think we played a better third period than that in a long time. We didn't give them anything, even on the penalty kill.
"Give the guys in front of me a lot of credit. They really locked it down in the third and preserved that win for us."

The Flames had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:05 in the second period and another for 1:17 in the third but failed to score and finished 0-for-4 with the man-advantage.
Chicago forward Dylan Strome left in the second period with a right ankle injury. He has 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists) in 40 games this season.
"Probably see [Wednesday] how it looks," Colliton said. "I'm not sure we'll have an exact date then either, but we'll know if it's days or weeks."

They said it

"You dream of playing in the NHL and you look back, and that's a lot of games and a lot of preparation. You look more towards the 1,000-game [milestone], but it's a long way there and I'll remember this one for sure." -- Flames forward Elias Lindholm
"[We had a] couple big kills on 5-on-3s and we did a really good job, they didn't get too many chances [at] even [strength]. Those are positives, and I think penalty-killing has been good for us all year. That's going to have to be key." -- Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith

Need to know

Lindholm got his 300th NHL point (108 goals, 191 assists). … Tkachuk has five assists in his past five games. … Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane has eight points (four goals, four assists) during a four-game point streak. … Kubalik has scored in consecutive games for the third time this season. … Defenseman Connor Murphy led Chicago with six blocked shots.

What's next

Flames: Host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; SNF, FS-WI, FS-N+, NHL.TV)
Blackhawks: Host the Nashville Predators on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NBCSCH, FS-TN, NHL.TV)