CHICAGO _ The Blackhawks keep losing players and keep failing to build any momentum.
Dylan Strome left the game with a right ankle injury early in the second period and didn't return, and Elias Lindholm scored a pair of second-period goals to lift the Flames to a 2-1 victory over the Hawks at the United Center on Tuesday.
The Hawks already have lost Brent Seabrook and Calvin de Haan for the season and are playing without Robin Lehner, Brandon Saad, Andrew Shaw and Drake Caggiula. Losing Strome would be another huge blow to the Hawks, who dropped to 19-19-6 and failed to pull within four points of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Strome's right leg twisted awkwardly when Oliver Kylington dove at him to break up a two-on-one, and he immediately headed for the locker room after limping off the ice. The Hawks later announced he had a right ankle injury and was out for the game.
The Hawks twice killed off five-on-three power plays, including in the second period when the Flames had a two-man advantage for 65 seconds. The Hawks took a too-many-men penalty, then caught a bad break when Zack Smith nearly had a shorthanded breakaway only to have his stick clip a defender as he headed up the ice, prompting a high-sticking call.
The Hawks escaped, but a few minutes later Lindholm scored to give the Flames a 2-1 lead. Patrick Kane tried to make a pass off the boards to Kirby Dach as he was exiting the zone, but Matthew Tkachuck intercepted it and fed Lindholm, who hit a wobbly shot that carried over Corey Crawford's shoulder.
Crawford had a terrific game, stopping 26 shots, including a miraculous save during the Flames' second two-man advantage early in the third period to keep the Hawks in the game.
The Hawks were patient and in control during the first period but didn't break through until Dominik Kubalik's deflection of an Adam Boqvist shot slipped through goalie Cam Talbot's legs to make it 1-0.
It was Kubalik's 13th of the season and gave Boqvist a three-game point streak. Kane had a secondary assist to move him within seven of reaching 1,000 career points.
The solid work from the first 20 minutes was erased 14 seconds into the second period when Lindholm escaped Boqvist in the slot and fired a point-blank shot between Crawford's legs to tie it at 1.
