"Hopefully he's another guy that can get hot for us."- Nazar's big night against Sabres came at the best time

The Chicago Blackhawks needed a big night on offense.

They knew that the Buffalo Sabres were going to be a tough opponent. Not just because the Blackhawks were in the midst of a six-game losing streak.

But also, because, as head coach Jeff Blashill had previously mentioned, the Sabres are a good offensive team.

Yet the Blackhawks countered by playing a more cohesive game, and Frank Nazar's two-goal night played a key part in leading them to a 3-2 overtime win on Nov. 12.

What went into Nazar's big game against Buffalo

Something to note about Nazar this season is that he was a bit snake-bitten (as Blashill has noted many times, a lot of players have been in the same boat).

He got some chances and breakaways that didn't go his way.

But scoring is his engine. When he scores, it usually signals another one is on the horizon.

Take the Blackhawks game against the Florida Panthers on Nov. 4 as an example. He scored a short-handed goal in the third period to make it a 3-2 game. He pulled the Blackhawks back into the game again with a second goal to make it 4-3. They lost the game, but he made it close.

The Sabres game was no different. He scored a power-play goal in the first period to even the score 1-1, and he tied the game 2-2 with a goal in the third period.

It helped them secure at least a point, and then they won in overtime with a goal from Ryan Donato.

Blashill said after the game, "I thought Frankie was excellent tonight, to be honest. I thought he was good with the puck. I thought he made good decisions with the puck. I thought he was hard on it, strong on it, and I thought he checked really hard. So overall, he was good on the faceoff circle. Did a lot of good things, I thought."

As it stands, Nazar's seven goals is second on the Blackhawks. The power-play goal he had ended up being huge. I think Nazar at the net front is a good choice. He did a good job screening Sabres goalie Alex Lyon, and Nazar can be really effective when given those opportunities.

Then, there's the fact that he played on a line with Oliver Moore and Patrick Kane. It was a line they first tried against the L.A. Kings on Oct. 27, but they didn't get many games together, with Kane having missed three games prior to the Buffalo game.

According to Natural Stat Trick, that line had the second-best Corsi-for percentage at 63.64 percent. They also had six shots-for, one against, and a goal.

Blashill said about that line, "We didn't start it that way, but I went quickly back to it just because Kaner hadn't had a chance to practice much, so there was no real chemistry anywhere else, probably, and I do think that could be a real dynamic line, and they proved that tonight. I thought they had moments of being real dynamic, and it just seems to be a good fit with Kaner, and the speed of Frankie and Mooresy. And they've played well tonight."

With Nazar's two multi-goal games, he now has four goals in his last four games, and it looks like he could be an even bigger presence on the power play at the net front. That is beneficial given his chemistry with Connor Bedard and what he showed on the first unit.

Nazar's line with Kane and Moore looks like it is worth sticking with, too.

Donato said about Nazar, "Frank was awesome. I mean, he's dynamic in a lot of ways, but he can score goals a lot of ways. He wins a battle in front with the tip, and he can score some highlight-reel goals, too. So, it's obviously fun to be around, fun to play with, and hopefully he's another guy that can get hot for us."

That's just the thing. Nazar has had streaky moments with scoring. But once he gets going like that, he's hard to stop, and that's a very good thing for the Blackhawks.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow