The Chicago Blackhawks looked to get back on track on Friday night in Buffalo. They had lost their previous two games in close fashion, falling 6–4 to Calgary and 4–3 to the Wild on Christmas Eve eve. Both games were fought well to keep the Blackhawks in both games.
Against the Buffalo Sabres, the lineup changes were minimal, with Philipp Kurashev coming back into the lineup for Josh Anderson and Petr Mrazek getting the start in net.
First period
The first period got off to a slow start, with only three shots in the first 10 minutes. Unfortunately, the third shot got into the back of the net. Rasmus Dahlin put a shot on net that was deflected home by Zach Benson, giving the Sabres a 1–0 lead. Mrazek’s rough night was just getting started. A couple of minutes later, Tage Thompson put a shot on net that was deflected down by Alex Tuch. The puck squeaked through Mrazek’s pads and crossed the goal line, 2–0 Buffalo.
Fifteen seconds later, Dylan Cozens skated the puck back into the offensive zone. He whipped the puck across to Jack Quinn, who one-timed it off the post and in, 3–0 Sabres. With under a minute to go, the Blackhawks had the puck in the offensive zone. An errant pass from Tyler Bertuzzi sent the Sabres back on the attack. Quinn skated up into the offensive zone, dropping the puck off to Cozens for a goal of his own, putting the Sabres up 4–0 going into the intermission.
Second period
After an abysmal start to the game, Mrazek got pulled for Arvid Soderblom. The Blackhawks hoped they could claw their way back into the game with some personnel changes. Despite a 4-on-4 opportunity, the Blackhawks were unable to put any real chances on net until late in the period. Then, the Blackhawks got their first moment of the game to get back into it. Taylor Hall skated into the offensive zone and passed across to Bertuzzi. He put a shot on net that found twine, getting the Blackhawks on the board.
Bedard ➡️ Hall ➡️ Bertuzzi ➡️ 🚨 pic.twitter.com/JchzSRj4pd
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 28, 2024
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Third period
Three minutes into the third period, it looked like the Blackhawks might be clawing their way back one more time. Lukas Reichel set everything up with a drop pass to Pat Maroon. He put the puck across ice to Seth Jones, who buried the shot, making the score 4–2.
HAWKS GOAL 🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/wHjJohRewT
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 28, 2024
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Unfortunately, that would be all of the good news Blackhawks fans. A couple of minutes later, Tuch would strike again after coming out of the penalty box. He snuck the puck past Soderblom again, putting Buffalo back up by three. Tuch would manage to tuck in one more before the game was over, netting a hat trick for himself and giving the Sabres the 6–2 victory.
Analysis
The Blackhawks got behind too early in this game to really come back. Down by four goals in the first, with many of them not ones that should go in, will go a long way to demoralize a team. Two of Tuch’s three goals were weak and should not have gotten past the goaltender. The Cozens-Quinn combo were both avoidable with a little better defense. Overall, this was simply not a good showing for this team, and puts them right into a spot where they need to start winning in their own home rink to right the ship. The Blackhawks’ next game is against the Dallas Stars at home on Sunday night. That game will be on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. CST.