Gaudreau scores in fifth straight game, Flames defeat Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- Johnny Gaudreau scored for a fifth straight game in the Calgary Flames' 4-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Monday.

Gaudreau, who had two goals, has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) during the streak.
"I think our whole team played well," Gaudreau said. "I'm getting on the score sheet, which is nice. But our team's playing well; we're getting better every single game."
WATCH: [All Flames vs. Blackhawks highlights]
Sean Monahan had a goal and an assist, and Elias Lindholm had two assists for Calgary (27-13-4). David Rittich made 32 saves.
The Flames, who have won five of their past seven games (5-1-1), have scored at least four goals in four of their past five.
"Coming out of the Christmas break, we didn't like where we were at," Gaudreau said. "We kind of came back a little slow, and I think we've been getting better and better each game and finding ways to win games. It was a good effort."

Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, Alex DeBrincat and Brandon Saad scored and Erik Gustafsson had two assists for Chicago (16-22-7). Collin Delia made 39 saves.
"I think they took it to us in the third period," said Kane, who has seven goals in his past six games and 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in his past 11. "We were in a good spot there after two, being tied up, and we should feel confident in that position. So it was unfortunate to see them get an early goal, and I think we got away from our game plan a little bit after that."
Gaudreau's 25th goal of the season gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at 3:24 of the first period on a rebound of Monahan's shot near the top right of the crease.
Kane tied it 1-1 at 16:34 of the first on a backhand shot from the goal line that deflected off the top of Rittich's left shoulder.
DeBrincat's one-timer from Kane gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead at 5:07 of the second period.
"We need points and we need to get them every night, and that's what we're battling for," said DeBrincat, who has nine points (six goals, three assists) in his past nine games and has reached 20 goals in each of his first two NHL seasons (28 in 2017-2018). "Overall I thought we played alright, but [we] didn't get any points so it doesn't really help us."
Monahan tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal at 18:42 of the second from the low slot off a pass from Matthew Tkachuk. The assist gave Tkachuk his 50th point of the season, an NHL career high.
Gaudreau's second goal of the game gave the Flames a 3-2 lead on a breakaway 54 seconds into the third period.
Garnet Hathaway's empty-net goal made it 4-2 at 19:10 of the third.
Saad scored at 19:31 for the 4-3 final.

They said it

"When we dig in and get all four lines going and three sets of D, we're a dangerous team. We have to make sure our work ethic gets above our skill, though; if we're going to skill our way around the rink, we're going to be in a little bit of trouble and it's going to be iffy. When we go out and work, we're going to be a good team." -- Flames coach Bill Peters
"We played really good for one period, and I think we played close to three periods like we did the second, then we win the game. We didn't do that." -- Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton

Need to know

Gaudreau, Tkachuk, Monahan and Lindholm all have at least 50 points this season after 44 games. The Flames are the first team to feature four players with 50 or more points within the first 45 games of a season since the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-96 (Ron Francis, Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Tomas Sandstrom). … Monahan has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) during a five-game point streak. … Giordano has 300 assists in NHL. … It was the fourth time in five starts this season Delia has made at least 35 saves, and the first time Chicago didn't get at least one point with Delia in goal. … Kane has 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in his past six games.

What's next

Flames: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SNW, ALT, NHL.TV)
Blackhawks: Host the Nashville Predators on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN360, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, NHL.TV)