Markstrom makes 32 saves, Flames blank Blackhawks to end 4-game skid

CALGARY -- Jacob Markstrom made 32 saves, and the Calgary Flames ended a four-game skid with a 1-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday.

The shutout was Markstrom's second of the season and 20th in the NHL.

"Same feeling as all the other games this year, just pucks stayed out of the net, which was nice," Markstrom said. "Last few games we've had some crazy bounces and it was nice to be on the right side of those for once."

Elias Lindholm scored the lone goal early in the second period for the Flames (22-22-5), who finished a six-game homestand with two wins (2-4-0).

"This last stretch has been tough," Lindholm said. "Our game hasn't been good enough and when we play at home we want to play well and play good in front of our fans. We haven't given them good reason to be here. It's nice to get two points today and hopefully everyone refreshes, reloads, and comes back better."

Petr Mrazek made 30 saves for the Blackhawks (14-34-2), who were shut out in their second straight game after losing 3-0 against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, and have lost 20 consecutive road games (0-19-1) dating back to Nov. 12.

"Obviously it's really frustrating," Chicago defenseman Kevin Korchinski said. "We want to snap our road loss streak. We've got to bear down and maybe not put it into words, let our actions do the talking."

Lindholm gave Calgary a 1-0 lead at 15:55 of the second period on the power play with his first goal in 16 games. Yegor Sharangovich's initial shot from the slot was blocked, but Lindholm scored after the puck bounced to him at the side of the net with Mrazek out of position.

"It's been a while," Lindholm said. "I had a lot of chances, just haven't been able to put them in. It's always nice to score again and help the team win."

Lindholm's goal came after Markstrom stopped three Chicago breakaways earlier in the game. He made a toe save on Boris Katchouk's attempt in alone 2:19 into the first period, and got a pad on Lukas Reichel's deke at 9:10.

"Obviously you want to put on a better performance for your goalie, but he was dialed in tonight and he played an outstanding game," Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson said. "Sometimes you need your goalie to steal a game and today was a perfect example of that."

Katchouk missed the net on a short-handed breakaway 3:36 into the second, and Markstrom made a glove stop on Philipp Kurashev's breakaway at 5:47.

"I know we've had some games where we've had maybe more chances and more shots than the other team, but maybe not the quality,” Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. “But tonight, I think we had the quality as well. I don't know if I've ever seen six breakaways in a game and zero on the score clock.

"It's frustrating, but I told the guys we've got to keep playing like that and they're going to drop, and we'll start getting healthier and get some more help in that department. We're playing the right way. We're proud of how we're playing, but it's still the NHL and we've got to find results somehow."

Markstrom stopped Kurashev's wrist shot with six seconds remaining before making a right-pad save on Jason Dickinson's rebound attempt with four seconds left to preserve the victory.

"I felt good," Markstrom said. "I thought the third period was a really good period. They didn't have much at all and we closed out the game, and that's what you need to do in a one-goal game, so it was good."

NOTES: Markstrom became the fourth Swedish-born goaltender in NHL history to record at least 20 shutouts alongside Henrik Lundqvist (64), Tommy Salo (37) and Johan Hedberg (22). … Chicago has been shut out in four of its past six games. ... Lindholm surpassed Eric Vail for eighth place on the Flames all-time game-winning goal list with 30. … Calgary defenseman MacKenzie Weegar’s three-game goal streak ended.