The Buffalo Sabres needed to find a way to pull out of an early-season death spiral in which the club lost five of their first six games. In the final game of their three-game road trip, after an overtime loss to Pittsburgh and regulation loss to Columbus Blue Jackets. the Sabres got production from their top line and a solid performance from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in a 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
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The Sabres jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead on goals from Tage Thompson and Beck Malenstyn, but they allowed the rebuilding Hawks to climb back into the game with a pair of Craig Smith tallies before JJ Peterka’s game-winner late in the middle frame.
“(The top line was) finding the holes. Both JJ and (Thompson) can really shoot it.” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. “The line on the whole is generating opportunities in different ways, some of it is in the zone, some is on the rush.”
The contest was not without issues for Buffalo, as their power play continued their streak of ineptitude, going 0-for-4 on the night and scoreless in 21 man-advantage opportunities this season. The concern for the Sabres is that even with the victory, they have played the second-most games in the Eastern Conference and their 2-4-1 record has them in outside of the top eight.
Ruff will have an opportunity to work on things in practice, as the Sabres will have a light schedule with four home games spread out over the next two weeks, starting with the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
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