The Chicago Blackhawks finally found their offense in Buffalo, and it still was not enough. The Hawks led 2-0 early and 3-2 late in the second period, but the Sabres answered every time, and Jiri Kulich scored the winner on 4-on-4 in the third period to give Buffalo a 4-3 win on Saturday night at KeyBank Center. The Blackhawks leave the opening road trip at 0-3-0 with five goals scored and 15 allowed.
The score looks closer than the game was. Buffalo outshot Chicago 28-15, including 13-5 in the first period, and Spencer Knight did most of the work to keep the Hawks in it. He stopped 24 of 28 shots (.857), while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 12 of 15 (.800) at the other end. When your goalie faces that kind of volume, you cannot afford to give back the leads you earn.
How It Happened
Chicago came out the way the coaching staff wanted. Ryan Donato scored his first goal of the season at 7:59 of the first period, with assists from Alex Vlasic and Nick Lardis. Tyler Bertuzzi made it 2-0 at 11:24 on his first goal of the season, set up by Anton Frondell and Teuvo Teravainen. That was more offense in 11 minutes than the Hawks had produced in the previous two games combined (they had scored two goals total in Vegas and none in Utah).
Then the game turned. Buffalo controlled the final eight minutes of the period, and Jack Quinn cut the lead to 2-1 at 16:24 on a wrist shot. Tage Thompson tipped in the tying goal at 5:41 of the second, with Louis Crevier and Josh Norris on the assists.
The Hawks answered. After Oliver Moore took an interference minor at 16:05 and Chicago killed it, Moore scored his first goal of the season at 18:18, with Frondell and Vlasic getting the assists, to put the Hawks back in front 3-2 heading to the third.
The lead lasted until 6:10 of the third. Rasmus Dahlin snapped a shot past Knight to tie the game 3-3, with Peyton Krebs and Mattias Samuelsson on the assists. Then, with matching minors for Cole Smith and Zach Benson creating 4-on-4 hockey, Kulich scored at 13:20 off feeds from Owen Power and Thompson. Chicago got six shots in the third period, but Luukkonen shut the door, and the Hawks never found the equalizer.
Inside the Hawks Locker Room
Coach Jeff Blashill liked the compete level and said the team’s “swagger” was much better than in the first two games. He said the focus now is learning from the mistakes and growing from them, and he pointed to the between-period conversation about forward positioning in the offensive zone, which he felt showed up in the second half of the game.
Vlasic said the Hawks started the way they wanted to and need to hold that level of compete, speed, and detail for the full 60 minutes. That is the whole story of the night in one sentence.
Lineup note: Bowen Byram missed the game for a family matter, so Kevin Korchinski and Ethan Del Mastro were paired together, and Sam Rinzel was a healthy scratch.
My Observation
This was a much better night than the first two games on the trip, and I think that matters. Three goals from three different players, Frondell with two assists and a +2, Vlasic with two assists and a +3 while playing 22:33, and Teravainen with an assist and a +2 show some chemistry beginning to form. Moore’s goal came shortly after he killed off his own penalty, which is exactly the kind of response I want to see from a young player.
But the same issue keeps costing the Hawks: they cannot hold a lead. Chicago led twice and gave both leads back, and the recaps I read all pointed at rush defense and puck-watching as the cause. Both Korchinski and Del Mastro finished -2, and Korchinski played just 11:21 while Blashill leaned on Levshunov (24:40), Kaiser (22:58), and Vlasic. The coaching staff also limited Lardis to 7:41 even though he picked up an assist on the opening goal, which tells me they want to protect him while he learns the details of the NHL game.
Patrick Kane’s return to his hometown was quiet: no points, no shots, -2 in 19:01, plus a high-sticking minor early in the third. That is a tough way to spend a night in Buffalo, and Chicago has not won in Buffalo since 2019.
Special Teams
Chicago’s penalty kill went 2-for-2, killing Moore’s interference minor and Kane’s high-sticking minor, which is a quiet positive. The Hawks also had one power play, after a Josh Doan hooking minor in the second period, and did not score on it. Neither team scored on a man advantage.
The Winner Came 4-on-4
The game-winner was not a special teams goal. Smith took a tripping minor for Chicago and Benson took one for Buffalo about seven seconds apart, which opened the ice to 4-on-4. Kulich scored about a minute and a half later, a reminder that the most dangerous time to lose your mark is when the ice opens up.
Next Game
The Blackhawks return home for their home opener on Tuesday, October 6, against the St. Louis Blues at the United Center (7 p.m. CT). They then head to New York to face the Islanders on Thursday, October 8.
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