5 Things - Flames @ Blackhawks

1. On A Hu-Ge Run

Jonathan Huberdeau – or as teammate Yegor Sharangovich would say: Jonathan Hubearrrrrrdo – is tearing it up.

He scored the game-winner to push the Flames past the Kings Saturday night in a 2-1 victory at the Scotiabank Saddledome, his second game-winner in as many outings as he notched the decider against the Ducks in Anaheim on Jan. 7.

He's got a red-hot stick, tallying 10 times in his last 14 games, and has 20 points in his last 20 tilts.

Matt Coronato scored Calgary's other goal and had an assist on Huberdeau's tally. More on him below in Player to Watch.

CLICK HERE TO READ GAME STORY

The Flames and Blackhawks last met in a wild one in Calgary, where the homeside prevailed 6-4 on Dec. 21.

Huberdeau, Coronato, Nazem Kadri, Connor Zary and Blake Coleman scored for the Flames, while Connor Bedard had tallied for the Blackhawks as Calgary led 5-1 after 40 minutes.

But Chicago stormed back with three goals in the third period, the last off the stick of Ilya Mikheyev with 1:08 left for a nailbiting finish. But captain Mikael Backlund iced it with an empty-netter to give the C of Red an early Christmas present.

The Flames also won 3-1 at home on Oct. 15.

Flames head coach Ryan Huska confirmed Monday morning that recent Wranglers callup Rory Kerins will make his NHL debut tonight: CLICK TO READ MORE

2. Know Your Enemy

The 'Hawks are last in the Central Division at 14-27-2, have lost two straight, and are 2-8-0 in their last 10.

They are coming off a 4-3 defeat to the Oilers on Saturday night at the United Center, a loss that really stung after they gave up a 3-1 lead with Edmonton scoring three straight to leave the Windy City with two points.

Teuvo Teravainen opened the scoring for the homeside 4:45 into the first period and Nick Foligno would give Chicago a two-goal cushion after 20 minutes.

Vasily Podkolzin scored just 22 seconds into the second period for Edmonton but Ryan Donato would tally at 10:03 to restore the two-goal lead.

Then it was time to cue the comeback.

Adam Henrique responded 5:46 seconds later, with Corey Perry then knotting things up two-and-a-half minutes before the second intermission.

Zach Hyman would score the game-winner on the powerplay at 7:18 of the third.

“We got away from our game,” Blackhawks defenseman Alec Martinex told NHL.com's Bruce Miles. “Obviously against a team like that, you've got to play a full 60 (minutes). They went to the (Stanley Cup) Final for a reason. Two of the top players in the world (Draisaitl and Connor McDavid). We got away from what made us successful in the first period. You give a team like that opportunities, they're going to capitalize.”

“They pushed us back,” said Chicago interim coach Anders Sorensen. “We were on our heels a little bit. They’re a good team, so they’re coming at us in waves, and we had a hard time kind of stopping that. We got out of it.”

3. Fast Facts

Big Mac!

With two assists in his last outing against Chicago, MacKenzie Weegar recorded his 100th point since joining the Flames in 2022-23. With 100 points in his-then 197th game in a Flames sweater, Weegar became the fourth defenceman to reach the milestone with the franchise in under 200 games over the past 25 years, and joined Dion Phaneuf (162 GP), Dennis Wideman (174 GP) and Dougie Hamilton (178 GP).

Calgary-Chicago Connections

Blackhawks blueliner T.J. Brodie was drafted by the Flames in the fourth round (114th overall) in the 2008 NHL Draft. The Chatham, Ont., native would spend 10 seasons with the Flames organization, establishing himself as a full-time NHLer beginning in the 2013-14 campaign. Chicago forward Taylor Hall was born in Calgary and is looking to skate in his 37th contest against his hometown team.

Flames Head Coach Ryan Huska played his lone NHL game as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, their opponent on that night was the Calgary Flames. ... Flames forwards Walker Duehr and Matt Coronato and goaltender Dan Vladar all spent time with the Chicago Steel of the USHL. Both Duehr and Vladar spent one season with the Chicago Steel (Vladar: 2015-16), (Duehr: 2016-17) while Coronato spent both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns with the Steel. In his second season in the USHL, Coronato would help guide Chicago to a USHL Championship, earning USHL Forward of the Year honours along the way.

4. Did You Know?

Kevin Rooney scored his first NHL goal against the Chicago Blackhawks as a member of the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 14, 2019.

5. Players To Watch

Flames – Matt Coronato

The young Flames sniper had a goal and two points in the win over the Kings, as mentioned above, but he also led the team with five shots and was ‘around it’ all night long.

He has 10 goals and 22 points so far this campaign in 36 outings and while not everyone is a fan of the stat, is an impressive +10. He had three goals and nine points in 34 games last year with the Flames.

Blackhawks - Teuvo Teravainen

While the talk is always about the phenom Connor Bedard, who has 11 goals and 38 points in 43 games, Teravainen is second in team scoring with 10 goals and 30 points in the same amount of skates and has been on a tear of his own lately. He scored two goals against Detroit prior to his two-point outing against the Oilers, and has six points in his last five games.