Blackhawks Beat Sabres 4-3 In OT
CHICAGO (AP) -- Patrick Kane scored 56 seconds into overtime, Artem Anisimov had two goals and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-3, on Thursday night.
Jonathan Toews set up Kane's 12th goal when he forced Anders Nilsson to make a left pad save. The rebound went right to Kane, who knocked it into the open side of net before Nilsson could recover.
Ryan Hartman also scored for the Blackhawks, who had dropped five of six. Kane also had two assists against his hometown team and Corey Crawford made 17 stops in Chicago's 10th consecutive victory against Buffalo.
"Nothing better than beating Buffalo, right?" a grinning Kane said as he addressed the crowd after the game.
Kyle Okposo had a goal and an assist for the Sabres, and Ryan O'Reilly had two assists in his return from an appendectomy. Jack Eichel also scored and Nilsson finished with 39 stops.
The game was tied at 2 when O'Reilly found Eichel for a one-timer from the left circle at 1:10 of the third. It was Buffalo's second power-play goal in three opportunities and Eichel's eighth goal in 17 games this season.
The Sabres then kept the action away from Nilsson for much of the third. The Blackhawks finally broke through when Kane got a backhander to the net and Anisimov knocked in the rebound with 2:04 remaining in regulation.
Buffalo also jumped in front in each of the first two periods, only to have Chicago rally each time.
Marcus Foligno intercepted a clearing attempt by Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook in the first and beat Crawford on the glove side for his sixth of the season at 7:21. But Hartman responded for the Blackhawks, splitting Okposo and Sabres defenseman Taylor Fedun before sending a hard wrist shot over Nilsson's glove at 16:20.
Chicago outshot Buffalo 20-6 in the first, but Hartman's seventh of the season was all it could manage against Nilsson.
The teams exchanged two more goals 18 seconds apart in the second. After Chicago was whistled for too many men on the ice, Okposo stuffed one home from the side of the net for his team-best 12th goal. Anisimov then sent a wrist shot over Nilsson's glove for his team-best 17th of the season, tying it at 2 with 1:32 remaining in the period.
UP NEXT
Sabres: Host Winnipeg on Saturday afternoon.
Blackhawks: Host Carolina on Friday night.
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