Blackhawks halt Sabres' modest win streak
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 5-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday night.
Ryan Hartman, Marian Hossa, Jonathan Toews and Artem Anisimov also scored for Chicago (36-18-5). Scott Darling made 24 saves.
Evander Kane scored for the Sabres (26-24-10), who had a three-game win streak come to an end. Robin Lehner made 32 saves.
Hartman opened the scoring with 6:26 remaining in the first period following a flurry of pressure by the Blackhawks to open the game. Hartman swooped into the right circle before placing a high wrist shot into the net for his 14th goal of the season.
Evander Kane evened the score with 5.6 seconds remaining in the first period. Jack Eichel set up Kane with a backhand pass from behind the net, and Kane buried a hard shot in off the crossbar for his seventh goal in his past seven games.
Hossa restored Chicago's lead midway through the second period, and it was all Chicago from there. The veteran cut inside from the right circle and beat Lehner through the goalie's legs for his 21st goal of the season.
Toews made it 3-1 with 3:43 remaining in the second. Toews grabbed hold of a rebound in front of the Sabres net, beating Eichel for the puck, and tucked a backhand shot in for his 12th goal of the season at 9:40.
Anisimov made it 4-1 3:29 into the third period by redirecting a hard pass from Patrick Kane into the net for his 21st goal of the season.
Patrick Kane made it 5-1 three minutes later on a highlight-reel goal of his own. He deftly stickhandled around Lehner, tucking a backhand shot inside the post for his 20th goal of the season.
NOTES: C Sam Reinhart and D Justin Falk were scratched for the Sabres. Reinhart missed his second game in a row due to illness. ... LW Andrew Desjardins, RW Jordin Tootoo and D Michal Rozsival were scratched for the Blackhawks. ... This was the Sabres' sixth contest in a string of eight consecutive home games against Western Conference opponents. ... This game wrapped up Buffalo's 11th of a league-most 19 sets of back-to-back games this season. ... This was the second of two meetings between the two teams this season. The Blackhawks won the first meeting, 4-3, in overtime in Chicago on Jan. 5.