Frank Nazar gave the Blackhawks exactly what they needed on Thursday night: a jolt, a pair of goals, and a path to a 3-2 overtime win over the Sabres at the end of a long, frustrating stretch.
Chicago came into the game after a four-day break and with plenty to prove. The Blackhawks were sitting at 4-13-1 through 18 games, and general manager Kyle Davidson had already met with the press to lay out the road ahead for a fanbase that was clearly unhappy. Buffalo arrived with a better record at 8-7-3, but the Sabres had been hammered 8-3 by Tampa Bay the night before and were trying to stop a slide of three losses in four games.
Instead, it was the Blackhawks who found a way to leave with something to feel good about.
The opening period had plenty going on. Buffalo got on the board first when Owen Power was left alone in the right circle and made Chicago pay after the Blackhawks had avoided an odd-man rush but still ended up chasing the puck. Josh Norris and Jack Quinn picked up the assists.
Chicago answered on the power play when Nazar scored in front to make it 1-1, with Connor Bedard and Roman Kantserov assisting. The Sabres then regained the lead later in the period on a power-play blast from Tage Thompson, set up by Quinn and Rasmus Dahlin. After 20 minutes, Buffalo led 2-1, with the Sabres holding a 14-13 edge in shot attempts and the shots on goal tied 8-8.
The second period belonged to Buffalo territorially, even if the scoreboard stayed still. Chicago had some good looks from Nazar and Ryan Greene, but couldn’t break through. The Sabres outshot the Blackhawks 10-6 in the period and owned a huge 21-9 advantage in shot attempts.
Nazar changed the game again early in the third. At 8:22, he redirected a Sam Rinzel shot past the goalie to tie it 2-2, with Oliver Moore getting the secondary assist. That was Nazar’s seventh goal of the season.
Chicago had a late power play in regulation but couldn’t cash in, sending the game to overtime.
Then Ryan Donato finished it off. He scored the overtime winner for his third goal of the season, with Anton Frondell and Rinzel drawing the assists.
It was also a strong night for Rinzel, who finished with two assists. Kantserov kept rolling as well, extending his point streak to nine games with the helper on Nazar’s first-period power-play goal. That streak now includes six goals and three assists.
The Blackhawks won 54% of the faceoffs, with Frondell and Greene each going 6-for-10. Kantserov won 4-of-7, Bedard finished 6-of-11, and Nazar went 7-of-16.
After the game, Donato said, “I had some like… I don't know if I had a virus come in like the last like second. Just like felt terrible, and you know, said a couple extra prayers to get those bounces, and just bear down, and got one tonight. So, it felt good.”
Patrick Kane, who had been activated off injured reserve after missing the last three games with an upper-body injury, kept it simple: “Hopefully this is the start of something.”
Coach Blashill pointed to the way his team stayed with the game. “As we kind of talked through the week, if you check well, you put yourself at least in position to have a goal like Frankie had.
And now you’re in a tie game, and you find a way to win it in overtime. We just got to continue to do that.”
The Blackhawks now continue their four-game homestand with Winnipeg on Nov. 14 at 2:30 p.m. They’ll host Toronto on Tuesday, Nov. 17, for their Centennial game, marking the Blackhawks’ inaugural NHL game on Nov. 17, 1926, also against the Maple Leafs. Columbus comes to town on Thursday, Nov. 19, to close out the homestand.
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