Patrick Sharp's fifth short-handed goal of the season early in the third period handed the Chicago Blackhawks a 2-1 win against the host Calgary Flames Thursday night.
Flames defenceman Adrian Aucoin had the puck jump over his stick, allowing Sharp to speed up ice and bury his 11th goal of the season behind Calgary netminder Miikka Kiprusoff just 32 seconds into the period.
The Blackhawks' Jacob Dowell, right, nets a short-handed goal on Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff Thursday night in Calgary.
(Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)
"A horrible bounce," said Aucoin. "Iggy [Jarome Iginla] made a good pass, it was flat, then it just skipped at the last moment. It was just bad luck on our part."
Sharp's five short-handed goals has helped the Blackhawks to a league-leading 10 markers.
"We're aggressive all over the ice, we're blocking a lot of shots, and we have good speed with our forwards. Put all that together, throw in a little bit of luck and a few good bounces," said Sharp when pressed to explain his club's shorthanded prowess.
Chicago (12-8-1) also received a short-handed tally from Jacob Dowell, who netted his first career goal while making his NHL debut, giving Chicago a 1-0 lead at 5:29 of the second.
Dowell, 22, was recalled on Monday from Rockford of the American Hockey League along with Kris Versteeg to fill in for injured forwards Rene Bourque (broken thumb) and Jason Williams (groin).
The Blackhawks improved to 5-1-1 in their last seven games and are 2-1-1 on a six-game road trip.
"We outplayed them, we just didn't put it in the net and they got the lucky ones," said Aucoin.
Iginla tied the game at 12:17 of the second for the Flames (9-10-3), who had only allowed one short-handed goal in their first 21 games. Calgary is now 3-7-0 in its last 10 games.
The Flames took the action to Chicago for much of the final period, outshooting their foes 15-2. However, goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin finished the game making 30 saves.
"You can talk about the short-handed goals all you want, but without Nik tonight, the Flames come away with those two points," said Sharp.
"He takes a lot of heat but it's not warranted. We give up a lot of scoring chances and he stands on his head a lot of nights. His numbers might not be amongst the league-leaders but in this room we're confident with him between the pipes."
Kiprusoff made 12 saves for the Flames.
Iginla suited up for his 800th NHL game Thursday night, becoming only the second Flame to reach that milestone. Hall of Fame defenceman Al MacInnis is the other, with 803 games.
Forwards Marcus Nilson (concussion) and Wayne Primeau (ankle) sat out Thursday's contest against the Blackhawks.
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