CHICAGO (AP) Michael Stone shot the puck and it ended up in the back of the net. That was Stone’s story, and those were the most important details for the Calgary Flames.
Stone scored with 3:30 left on a shot that appeared to be tipped in by Johnny Gaudreau, and the Flames won 3-2 on Tuesday night, beating the Chicago Blackhawks for the second straight game.
Dougie Hamilton and Sean Monahan also scored for Calgary (27-18-8), and Mike Smith made 34 saves in the opener of a six-game trip. The Flames topped the Blackhawks 4-3 Saturday night on Monahan’s overtime goal in Calgary.
”A good way to start the road trip,” Stone said. ”We need these points right now and hopefully we can keep the momentum going.”
Stone connected on a rising shot from the right point, giving Calgary a 2-1 lead. Gaudreau and Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said the star forward got a piece of it with the shaft of his stick, but Stone was credited with his third goal of the season.
”I just shot it,” Stone said. ”I didn’t even know it went in the net, to be honest with you, so I’ll take that one.”
Gaudreau had two assists, giving him a team-high 45 on the season. He was OK with missing out on his 17th goal.
”I’m just happy the team got the win,” he said. ”Stoner, you know, it was a great shot.”
The Blackhawks challenged the play, arguing Gaudreau’s stick was above the crossbar when it touched the puck. But it was ruled “Stone’s shot entered the Chicago net in a legal fashion.”
Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane scored for last-place Chicago (24-21-8), which has dropped three in a row. Jeff Glass finished with 20 stops.
”I don’t know what to say right now. It’s pretty frustrating,” captain Jonathan Toews said. ”I thought we played pretty good hockey at times. Had a lot of good chances. We should be able to find ways to win games even if we give up two or three.”
After Monahan added an empty-netter at 18:09, the Blackhawks got one back on Kane’s team-best 21st goal with just a couple of seconds remaining. Coach Joel Quenneville then used his timeout, but Chicago was unable to come up with the tying score.
”That was a tough one,” Quenneville said. ”We had power plays to get us an opportunity to go ahead, and tie it.”
The Blackhawks got off to a nice start in their first home game since Jan. 24. With Flames forward Micheal Ferland in the penalty box for boarding, DeBrincat beat a screened Smith with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle 3:35 into the first.
It was DeBrincat’s fifth goal in the last five games. The rookie winger is second on the team with 19 goals on the season.
Calgary had a 5-on-3 power play for 100 seconds late in the first, but Chicago killed it off. Glass made three saves while the Blackhawks were short-handed.
The Flames responded with Hamilton’s ninth goal 1:10 into the second. Monahan and Hamilton skated in for a 2-on-1, and Monahan’s centering pass went off Hamilton’s left skate and into the net.
The Blackhawks appeared to get the go-ahead goal off a wild scramble in front 3:53 into the second, but it was waved off after a long delay. The on-ice call was upheld by the referees, but Calgary challenged for goaltender interference and the replay review took Ryan Hartman’s score off the board.
”What we saw when I looked at it was that we didn’t push anybody into the goalie, so then there was contact made,” Gulutzan said.
NOTES: The Flames improved to 14-5-5 on the road. … Blackhawks G Corey Crawford skated again Tuesday morning, but Quenneville provided no timetable for his return. Crawford has missed 18 straight games with an upper-body injury. … The Flames scratched D Matt Bartkowski and forwards Marek Hrivik and Ryan Lomberg. … D Connor Murphy (illness) and forwards Lance Bouma and Tommy Wingels were inactive for Chicago.
UP NEXT
Flames: Visit the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.
Blackhawks: Host the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.
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Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap
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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey
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