The Buffalo Sabres will go into their bye week smarting from this heavy 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks. The visitors showed exactly why they have a ten-game unbeaten streak against the Sabres, and have now extended that to eleven, two less than Montreal’s choke hold over Toronto.
Buffalo hung on tight in the first period, getting outshot 17-12 by Chicago, with rookie Ryan Hartman opening the scoring before Evander Kane scored yet another 5-on-5 goal to tie it, with seconds left in the period. In between, the Sabres wasted a two-man advantage as well as the first period ended 1-1.
The second period has not been kind to Buffalo in the past, though it looked they turned it around yesterday against the St. Louis Blues. However, it was not to be. With both teams today playing the second half of back-to-back games, it was the Sabres who looked lead-footed and goals from Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews put the Hawks up 3-1, with a 12-8 shots lead in the period.
However it was the third period when Chicago really stepped on the gas with Buffalo having no answer to their slick passing movements, especially from the Artemi Panarin – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane line, with the latter two scoring quickly to put the Blackhawks out of sight.
Three Questions
1. Can the Sabres make it four (gasp!) wins in a row?
Nope. Enough said.
2. Will Buffalo be able to out-possess Chicago?
Also, nope.
3. Speaking of Kane..
Yes! Evander Kane continues to be one of the hottest properties in the League since December, ending the game with Buffalo’s only goal on five shots and almost 24 minutes of ice time.
Comment of the Game
The game thread was marred by some unnecessarily vile behavior today, and so I’m pulling rank to make this the comment of the game today to remind everyone to maintain some decorum here.
Official Warning
Per the SBN community guidelines, a certain reader who has been posting here has been warned.
http://www.sbnation.com/community-guidelines
We do encourage healthy debate, but the rules are pretty clear about personal attacks and ‘relentless negativity’.
http://www.diebytheblade.com/2016/10/14/13267878/the-new-user-s-guide-to-die-by-the-blade-2016
Thank you for being part of the DBTB community, and we appreciate your efforts to make this an enjoyable experience for all.
Posted by Calvin