CHICAGO (AP) - Chicago rookie Adam Munro outdueled one of the NHL's elite goalies and earned his first shutout in the process.
Munro stopped 26 shots, including several prime chances in the third period, to lead the Blackhawks to a 2-0 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night. Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff, who leads the NHL with six shutouts, finished with 18 saves.
``It's good to play well and get the result you want,'' Munro said. ``The two points are the biggest thing.''
Chicago won for only the fourth time in its last 19 games overall and posted just its third win in its last 14 home contests.
Martin Lapointe's power-play goal with 6:11 left in the third period snapped a scoreless tie. Following Mark Bell's shot from the point, Lapointe managed to whack the puck between Kiprusoff's pads with his second try.
Kyle Calder pounced on a turnover by Calgary defenseman Roman Hamrlik and scored a shorthanded insurance goal with 4:48 left.
``I think he (Kiprusoff) had it at first,'' Lapointe said. ``I took a whack at it, he lost it and I took another whack at it and it went in.
``It wasn't a pretty game, but we said to ourselves if we have to win the game 1-0, we'll win the game 1-0.''
Kiprusoff said he thought he had control of Bell's shot from the point before Lapointe's goal.
``I should really keep those loose pucks into myself,'' Kiprusoff said. ``We didn't give them too much.''
The Flames have lost two straight following a four-game winning streak. The Flames lead the Northwest Division and have allowed the fewest goals of any team in the Western Conference.
The Blackhawks killed all eight Flames power plays. Meanwhile, Chicago was 1-for-7 with the man advantage.
``Their penalty killing in this building is really, really good,'' Calgary coach Darryl Sutter said. ``They're probably the most aggressive penalty-killing team we've faced. That means you have to get an ugly goal, just like they did.''
Munro, playing his 13th career NHL game, was forced to make several tough saves in the third period as the Flames pressured the Chicago defense. He stopped Matthew Lombardi twice in the final minutes during a Flames power play.
Calder helped by blocking a shot.
``He made a big save there,'' Munro said. ``I think it hit his chest. When you're teammates come an bail out you out and I was kind of sitting on my butt ... it's huge to get that from a teammate.''
Chicago's top goalie, Nikolai Khabibulin, is out four-to-six weeks with a knee strain.
The Blackhawks limited the Flames to only a handful of scoring chances through the scoreless first period and well into the second before the pace picked up late in the period.
After the Blackhawks put together a threat in the Calgary zone, the Flames responded. In the final minutes of the second, Munro made several close-in saves - including on Lombardi with 2:11 left.
Early in the third, Munro made close-in stops on Jarome Iginla, Tony Amonte and Daymond Langkow. Munro barely closed his pads in time to stop Langkow's backhand shot from the edge of the crease from slipping in about seven minutes into the period.
Notes: The Blackhawks traded D Jaroslav Spacek to the Edmonton Oilers for LW Tony Salmelainen on Thursday afternoon. Salmelainen, 24, is under contract to HIFK in the Finnish elite league, and has 22 goals and 19 assists in 41 games. Salmelainen won't be able to report to the Blackhawks until next year, so Chicago recalled D Danny Richmond to take Spacek's place on the roster. ... Flames G Philippe Sauve cleared waivers on Thursday, but the team didn't announce a transaction or reassignment.
