Black Hawk
FanSided

Chicago Blackhawks Make Easy Work of Sabres in 4-1 Win

By Tony Gianares

CHICAGO, IL - NOVEMBER 17: Kirby Dach #77 and Duncan Keith #2 of the Chicago Blackhawks celebrate after Dach scored against the Buffalo Sabres in the first period at the United Center on November 17, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Bill Smith/NHLI via Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - NOVEMBER 17: Kirby Dach #77 and Duncan Keith #2 of the Chicago Blackhawks celebrate after Dach scored against the Buffalo Sabres in the first period at the United Center on November 17, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Bill Smith/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Chicago Blackhawks’ offense fired on all cylinders in a 4-1 win against Buffalo.

The Chicago Blackhawks keep rolling along and now have won four straight. With a record of 9-7-4, the Blackhawks have a lot to be happy about. They are currently 5th in the Central Division and T-10th in the Western Conference. The recent 4-game winning streak has brought the Blackhawks within one point of a playoff spot.

As for tonight’s tilt in Chicago, I’ll start off by saying this game was really never close. The Chicago Blackhawks scored at least one goal every period and ended the game with two goals in the 3rd period. The Blackhawks also got it done in other ways tonight as well.

The Blackhawks outclassed the Sabres in faceoffs won (51.6%), power-play efficiency (20%), and in blocked shots (15). Once again, it seemed like all 4 of the Blackhawks lines were active and productive. Let’s breakdown tonight’s impressive team win period by period.

1st Period

Kirby Dach opened up the flood gates tonight. He scored the first goal of the game and the Chicago Blackhawks never looked back. Dach has proven the Blackhawks’ management right in their decision to keep him in the NHL for the entire 2019-20 season.

https://twitter.com/Certified_TonyG/status/1196226394356928512

2nd Period

The 2nd period would be more of the same as Kirby Dach scored again, in a similar fashion, on a backhander. Dach is currently on a 4-game point streak and racked up 6 points (4G, 2A) in that time, with 2 goals coming tonight.

Kirby Dach has regularly displayed great offensive awareness and skill, especially around the net. If he keeps it up, we might see his name get called for the Calder Memorial Trophy at the end of the season. With 2 points tonight (9 total), Dach is keeping pace with both Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko, the 1st and 2nd overall picks in 2019.

3rd Period

The Blackhawks’ power play lit the lamp once tonight and it came early in the 3rd period. Patrick Kane scored the only power-play goal of the game and he made it look easy. Kane made a nifty move off the faceoff to finagle the puck from Marco Scandella and score, all in one swift motion.

Patrick Kane is doing Kane things again in 2019-20. He extended his point streak to 9 games with his power-play goal tonight. Chef Showtime is certainly cooking up the competition, as he now has a whopping 17 points (8G, 9A) during his 9-game point streak.

The Blackhawks’ first line of Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Alexander Nylander has been trying to keep up with the terrifying trio on the 2nd line, Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome-Patrick Kane. To close out the game, Toews also found twine with a nice assist by Brandon Saad.

https://twitter.com/Certified_TonyG/status/1196253234886787072

While Saad didn’t score tonight, he was extremely noticeable. He really has been the heart and soul of this 2019-20 Chicago Blackhawks team.

Saad has been providing vintage “Man Child” performances all season long. This is exactly why Stan Bowman traded Artemi Panarin for Brandon Saad. Although the results materialized 2 seasons later than we all expected, it’s better late than never.

Home/Analysis