In the second home game of the season for the Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago looked to continue their winning ways. The Hawks made some lineup changes from their victory against the San Jose Sharks, as Andreas Athanasiou and Ryan Donato returned to the lineup for Joey Anderson and Pat Maroon, who were out with an injury and illness, respectively. In addition, Lukas Reichel got his second appearance of the season.
Despite all the positivity from the Hawks coming into this game, the Hawks were sunk early by a tough first period. The Sabres were powered to victory by the play of Tage Thompson.
First period
With under nine minutes remaining in the first period, Thompson broke the scoreless tie with his fourth goal of the season. He fired a shot past Arvid Soderblom to give the Sabres the lead. Thomspon had several near misses before burying the goal.
Later in the first period, Beck Malenstyn record his first goal of the season and put Buffalo up 2–0.
The first period ended with the Hawks trailing 2–0.
Second period
In the second period, the Blachawks got on the score sheet with a goal from fourth-line center Craig Smith.
Craig Smith scores his first goal of the season, and Lukas Reichel picks up the primary assist after a nice pass. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/6Y7de6YOqJ
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 20, 2024
Chicago was not done in the second period, as Smith scored again to tie the game at 2–2.
Craig Smith cleans up the rebound on Lukas Reichel’s shot for his second goal of the night. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/eytzIEHSWJ
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 20, 2024
The tie lasted until late in the second period when JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo’s third goal of the game with assists from Thompson and Owen Power.
The second period ended with the Hawks down 3–2.
Third period
In the final frame, things got a little chippy between the Blackhawks and Sabres. Peyton Krebs delivered a big hit on Philipp Kurashev that got Tyler Bertuzzi to jump on Krebs.
Peyton Krebs delivers a big hit on Philipp Kurashev, and Tyler Bertuzzi immediately jumps in to defend his teammate. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/MKZ9Kp9pWN
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 20, 2024
Later in the period, Connor Bedard fired a shot off Rasmus Dahlin’s face and play was stopped after the shot. Bedard did go over to check on Dahlin. Dahlin appeared to be okay and remained in the game. The Sabres’ Ryan McLeod chipped an empty-net goal to seal the 4–2 win for the visitors.
Analysis
The Blackhawks finally got scoring from someone other than the top line. In the first five games of the season, the Hawks’ offense had been very top heavy. If the Bedard line with Teuvo Teravainen and Nick Foligno did not score, the Hawks were largely kept off the score sheet.
The Hawks’ top line was kept off the score sheet but the fourth line chipped in two goals. Smith potted his first two goals of the season with assists from Reichel. Reichel and Smith appeared to have found some chemistry and hopefully begin to build on it. Reichel, in a make-or-break season with the Hawks, has to show signs of offensive prowess to continue to get ice time.
While the goaltending has been solid thus far, Soderblom put up his first stinker of the season, allowing three goals on 21 shots for a save percentage of .857. With Chicago still offensively challenged, the team must get good to great goaltending on a nightly basis to stay competitive in games.
CHSN update
Before the game, CHSN President Jason Coyle released a statement. In the statement, CHSN blamed Comcast/Xfinity for not offering CHSN a deal or even countering any of CHSN’s offers. The carriage agreement has been an ongoing struggle between the network and cable providers. While Comcast/Xfinity is the largest cable provider in Chicagoland, they appear to be in no rush to get a deal done. The Hawks’ audience currently can only watch games with DirecTV or an antenna.
CHSN also announced that they have an app available and ready to launch but are waiting a response from Comcast/Xfinity before launching. No word on how much the app would cost and which areas would be subject to the NHL’s blackouts.
The Hawks’ next game will Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. CDT against the Vancouver Canucks. The game is available to watch on ESPN+ for out-of-market viewers and CHSN for in-market viewers. If you want to listen to the game, the Blackhawks can be heard on WGN’s AM 720.