JJ Peterka scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period to help the visiting Buffalo Sabres earn a 4-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
Peterka scored for a third straight game to put Buffalo ahead 3-2. He took a cross-ice pass from Tage Thompson low in the left circle for a quick strike at 18:37.
Ryan McLeod scored an empty-net goal with 26 seconds left in the third period for the 4-2 final.
Thompson and Peterka each had a goal and an assist while Beck Malenstyn also scored for the Sabres. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 35 saves to earn his first win of the season, Buffalo’s second.
Craig Smith scored twice and Lukas Reichel had two assists for Chicago, which took its second loss in three games. Arvid Soderblom made 18 saves.
Down by two after the first period, the Blackhawks picked up the pace in the second period and Luukkonen had to be sharp as the hosts built up a 9-2 advantage in five-on-five shot attempts through the first 12 minutes.
That total included Smith’s first goal of the night at 6:28. Smith received a pass from Reichel at the blue line and took it to the top of the left circle before sending a wrist shot far side to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Smith pulled the Blackhawks even at 12:48. Connor Murphy picked up the puck along the wall and fed it to Reichel, who cut into the low slot alone. Luukkonen stopped the initial shot, but Smith was right on the doorstep to pounce on the rebound and put it past the goalie’s left pad.
Thompson opened the scoring at 8:39 of the first period. Peterka carried a short pass from Alex Tuch through the neutral zone inside the Chicago blue line, where he dished a backhand feed over to Thompson for a wrister from above the circles that beat Soderblom blocker side.
Malenstyn made it 2-0 less than three minutes later. Connor Clifton’s shot redirected off Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser and then deflected off Malenstyn’s stick at 11:31.
The Sabres were 0-for-4 on the power play and are 0-for-21 on the season with the man advantage. The Blackhawks failed to take advantage of their lone power play.
