The Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Calgary Flames at the United Center on Thursday, Jan. 15, as the second game of a four-game homestand. This was their third and final season matchup with the Flames, with which they had won both previous contests (4-0 on Nov. 7 and 5-2 on Nov. 18). They were hoping for the third time to be another charm, but it was not to be.
Hall of Famers Duncan Keith and Marian Hossa were in the house ahead of “The Banner Years” Centennial Celebration this Saturday against the Boston Bruins. But even that wasn’t enough to motivate the team on this Thursday night, in the dog days of a long season. The crowd was half asleep and so were the Blackhawks. Once it was all said and done, they fell 3-1 in this contest. Let’s get to some of key takeaways.
Blackhawks Lines & Pairings vs. Flames
Ryan Greene – Connor Bedard – Andre Burakovsky
Tyler Bertuzzi – Jason Dickinson – Ilya Mikheyev
Ryan Donato – Oliver Moore – Nick Lardis
Colton Dach – Nick Foligno – Landon Slaggert
Alex Vlasic – Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser – Artyom Levshunov
Matt Grzelcyk – Connor Murphy
Spence Knight/ Arvid Soderblom
Scratched: Sam Lafferty, Teuvo Teravainen (upper body)
Injured Reserve: Frank Nazar (Face)
Related – Blackhawks News & Rumors: Bedard, Stomach Bugs & Looking to Rebound
Foligno Scores Lone Goal for Blackhawks
It actually looked like the Blackhawks were off to a great start when they scored less than three minutes into the game. Captain Nick Foligno went top shelf with his second goal of the season, assisted by Colton Dach and Landon Slaggert.
right on target for goal no. 249🎯 pic.twitter.com/yJYwFgxSmI
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 16, 2026
It was Dach’s sixth assist of the season and Slaggert’s third. This fourth line isn’t exactly around for their scoring touch. But they were the only ones to get it done on this night.
After that, a power play goal by Yegor Sharangovich and a shorthanded tally by Mikael Backlund gave the Flames a 2-1 lead in the first frame. This held until the empty net goal by Matt Coronato in the third to put the game away.
Disconnected Blackhawks
After the game, Blackhawks’ veteran defenseman Connor Murphy didn’t mince words about the Blackhawk’s subpar performance.
Just being disconnected, and our level of execution. Five-on-five (along with special teams) was not there tonight. It needs to be, especially at home, for us to be able to play with the pace that we have. You got to be clean, and we weren’t clean tonight.
Murphy continued,
It is frustrating just because we feel like we’ve been at home for a bit now, and we don’t have an excuse of being fatigued or being disconnected in any way. We had a good practice yesterday, and feel like we should have been better tonight, overall. They are a hard checking team, so they don’t make it easy. Their whole lineup plays pretty hard with their sticks and checking through bodies, so it makes it a bit of a challenge. So we tried to stay with it, but unfortunately, we just couldn’t break through.
Head coach Jeff Blashill agreed, saying the team wasn’t predictable for each other and they kept looking for the extra play. He said it resulted in guys standing still.
Bad Blood Between Blackhawks & Flames
There seems to be some bad blood brewing between these two teams. The second period in this game is when even more of that became clear. Murphy and Joel Farabee ended up dropping the gloves after Murphy’s massive mid-ice hit, which actually knocked the wind out of Murphy as he got Farabee’s helmet to his chest.
A little later in the period, Flames’ Kevin Bahl crushed rookie Oliver Moore into the boards, and Ryan Donato took exception. Defenseman Artyom Levshunov and Nick Lardis weren’t too happy about it either.
Oliver Moore gets crushed and Ryan Donato jumps right in to defend him. Artyom Levshunov was hot too pic.twitter.com/9RSNLVAcIZ
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) January 16, 2026
There always seems to be shenanigans when these two teams get together. In their matchup on Nov. 7 there were 42 combined penalty minutes. On Nov. 18 there were 122 minutes. In this contest, the total ended up being 36 combined minutes.
We’ll have to wait until next season to see if this rivalry continues.
Crevier Skates in 100th NHL Game
On a more positive note, defenseman Louis Crevier skated in his 100th NHL game. The 2020 seventh-round draft pick (188th overall) wasn’t sure he was even going to make it to the NHL, much less skate in 100 games. But he’s been a solid shutdown defenseman for the Blackhawks, now in his third season with the team.
The 24-year-old blueliner is also finding a bit of his offensive game this season. He currently has four goals and 14 points, which is tied for first on the team among defenseman (with Wyatt Kaiser) for goals and second (to Levshunov) in points.
Related – Louis Crevier’s Evolution From 7th Round Draft Pick to Blackhawks’ Impact Player
On this night, Crevier contributed a team-high four shots on goal, six shot attempts, two hits, and three blocked shots in 17:17 minutes of ice time. Not bad for a seventh-round draft pick.
Other Notes From Blackhawks vs. Flames
- Coming into this night, the Blackhawks were perfect on the penalty kill in January, having killed off 16-of-16 penalties. But Sharangovich’s power play goal ended that streak. The PK unit will just have to start another streak.
- Blashill also mentioned that special teams didn’t do them any favors against the Flames. They went 0-for-4 on the power play & 3-for-4 on the penalty kill (plus allowing a shorthanded goal).
- The Blackhawks continue to do well in the faceoff circle. In this contest, they won 54% of their draws. Moore went 7-of-13 for 54%. Jason Dickinson went 10-of-14 for 71%. Foligno was 6-of-10 for 60%, while Ryan Greene won 7-of-15 draws for 47%.
- Goaltender Spencer Knight continued to be a positive asset that kept the Blackhawks in this game. He stopped 20-of-22 shots for a .909 save percentage.
Related – Blackhawks’ Center “Dilemma”: Who Fits Best Down the Middle?
The Blackhawks definitely didn’t do themselves any favors in this game. But they have two pretty big contests coming up. They host the Boston Bruins on Saturday (Jan. 17) for an Original Six matchup and the celebration of the Banner Years. Then, former Blackhawks’ captain and three-time Hawks’ Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Toews visits the United Center on Monday, Jan. 19, for the first time in a Winnipeg Jets’ jersey.
Keep it here at The Hockey Writers for all the latest news and analysis on these upcoming events and more!
