NHL

• Blackhawks start circus swing in style, douse Flames

  
  

  Calgary, AB (Sports Network) - Kris Versteeg scored two goals, and the Chicago Blackhawks scored six unanswered goals -- five in the second period -- to start their annual circus road trip with a dominant 7-1 win over the Calgary Flames.

  The Blackhawks, who will be on the road for the next six games as Ringling Bros.

  and Barnum & Bailey take over the United Center, made the Pengrowth Saddledome look like a circus. Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, and Andrew Ladd, Troy Brouwer, Dustin Byfuglien and Ben Eager each scored in the resounding victory.

  "A great game across the board," said Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville. "(I'm) really happy with all aspects and areas of our game.

  Everybody contributed; it was a very solid team effort tonight." Duncan Keith tallied three assists, while Cam Barker, Patrick Sharp and Brian Campbell each had two. Cristobal Huet made 27 stops to earn the win. The red- hot Hawks have now won five straight.

  Olli Jokinen scored the lone goal for the Flames, who have lost three of four and fell to 6-5-0 at home this season.

  Miikka Kiprusoff lasted just two periods, allowing six goals on 24 shots, and Curtis McElhinney stopped only 1- of-2 shots in the third period.

  "The game is 90 percent mental, and this has a lot of work to do on that part of it," said Flames head coach Brent Sutter. "A sense of urgency needs to be there, and we lack that. There needs to be a lot more emotion throughout on a consistent basis. We need to want to succeed." Chicago had the lone goal of the first period on the power play, as Keith rifled in a slapshot that was initially stopped by Kiprusoff. Brouwer, though, tried three times to stuff it in and lifted the puck over the netminder on the third try at 9:15.

  Calgary got on the board 14 seconds into the middle stanza on a power play marker from Jokinen, but the Blackhawks responded with five goals before the period ended.

  Versteeg, who sat out the team's previous game, put Chicago back in front with a power play goal at 2:01. Six minutes later, Byfuglien rifled a wrist shot past Kiprusoff from the right circle for a 3-1 margin.

  At 12:51, Ladd scored on a breakaway after a nifty pass from Keith, and Kane scored on a two-man advantage right in front of the net at 18:46 for a four- goal lead. Versteeg capped the period's scoring with a one-timer down low for another power play score with 38 seconds remaining.

  Eager added another goal for Chicago with 4:34 remaining in the game to account for the final margin.

  Game Notes Since the Flames held a 5-0 lead with 8:17 remaining in the first period against Chicago on October 12, the Blackhawks have outscored Calgary, 13-1, in winning both matchups this season...Chicago also visits Edmonton, Vancouver, San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles on its trip...The Blackhawks went 4-for-5 on the power play, while Calgary went 1-for-5.

  11/20 01:03:36 ET