Outshot 50-18, Flames still edge Blackhawks in OT

[October 16, 2014]  CHICAGO -- While the Chicago Blackhawks outshot Calgary 50-18, it was the Flames who made their shots count the most Wednesday night at the United Center.

Center Mikael Backlund's wrist shot beat Chicago goalie Corey Crawford with 25 seconds left in overtime, giving Calgary a 2-1 win over the Blackhawks at the United Center.

Calgary goalie Jonas Hiller was exceptional in the net, stopping 49 of Chicago's 50 shots, the most shots on goal by a team in the NHL this season.

"It was Hills in net," Backlund said, not taking credit for the game-winner, his first goal of the season. "He was great for us.

"It was another night that we had great goaltending. We are fortunate to have great goaltending on this team."

The loss was the first of the season for Chicago (2-0-1), while Calgary (3-2-0) climbed back above .500.

"It feels good tonight," Calgary center Paul Byron said. "We were very lucky. We definitely stole that one."

But give credit where it is due, too. Calgary stopped Chicago on six of seven power-play opportunities.

"We played with fire," Calgary coach Bob Hartley said. "It was an unbelievable game. Our penalty-killing was the story. They were great. To give up one power-play goal is great."

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville was so disappointed with the loss that he didn't even talk to his team after the game.

"Our best shots that we got, we probably had six or seven A-plus chances that didn't even get a shot on net," Quenneville said. "We were looking for a better play, a missed shot, blocked or in too tight or missed the net.

"Those were the ones that didn't even add up on the score sheet as far as shots, but those were the quality chances that we missed."

Even so, Quenneville conceded that the Flames' defense was the difference in the game.

"We should find a way to have a finish tonight," Quenneville said. "Their 'D' blocked a lot of shots that didn't get through."

Hartley agreed with Quenneville.

"We're working, our guys are hustling, blocking shots and driving," Hartley said. "Everyone's trying their best.

"The (defensemen) will sleep well tonight. Those guys were warriors tonight. We gave them a lot of shots, but I felt like the lane was well protected. It was an excellent job."

For the better part of the first 54 minutes, it appeared Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman's mid-second-period goal would stand up as the only tally of the night.

Wideman's slapshot, his first goal of the season, sailed past Crawford (16 saves) at 11:55 of the middle period.

Flames center Joe Colborne picked up the assist for his fifth point of the season.

The Blackhawks finally tied the game when they capitalized on their seventh power-play opportunity of the night at 14:15 of the third period. Center Andrew Shaw's tip-in evened the score at 1-1.

Forward Patrick Sharp slammed a hard slap shot from just inside the blue line, and Shaw deflected it at just the right time to get it past Hiller.

It was Shaw's second goal of the season, with Sharp and center Jonathan Toews earning assists on the play.

"It's always tough when you're up 1-0 and you let one in late," Backlund said. "But everybody kept going, kept working and believed that we could still win it. I think that's why we came out with the win."

Even with Shaw's goal, Chicago is just 3-for-16 in power-play situations.

Calgary failed to score on its lone power play.

"We have confidence in our goalies and defense, and we're going to play our game and nothing is going to break that," Byron said.
 

NOTES: The attendance was 21,112, the Blackhawks' 279th consecutive United Center sellout, the longest streak in the NHL. ... While the Blackhawks won one game against Calgary last season, they also lost two overtime games to the Flames. ... Calgary had C Jiri Hudler back in the lineup Wednesday after he missed Saturday's game because of the flu. ... Flames LW Brandon Bollig returned to the United Center for the first time since being traded by the Blackhawks to Calgary on June 28 for a 2014 third-round draft pick. ... Flames G Karri Ramo ended last season with wins in nine of his last 14 games and began this season with wins in his first two starts. He sat out Wednesday. ... ESPN The Magazine ranks the Blackhawks as 10th best among the 122 professional teams in the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL -- the highest the organization has ever ranked on that list.

[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.