Frank Nazar Scores Twice, Ryan Donato Wins It For Blackhawks 3-2 Over Sabres In Overtime

CHICAGO - The Chicago Blackhawks were back at the United Center for Thursday night hockey against the Buffalo Sabres. After a lousy road trip made for a noisy week around the organization, they finally hit the ice for a game. 

Buffalo was coming into this in a back-to-back situation, as they were beaten soundly (8-3) by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. Of course, they had the attitude of a team that wanted to make it right, but there is also a disadvantage to playing the night prior with travel. 

This was the first time that the Blackhawks played since the prior Saturday. After being blown out 9-2 by the Carolina Hurricanes, it became an eventful week for Chicago. In addition to lots of practice, there was a backup goalie change, a vote of confidence for the head coach, and the GM spoke at a press conference. 

After all of that, there was pressure on the Blackhawks to play better. You can't always expect a win, but you can expect a good effort and not to be blown out. 

The first period was not great for Chicago. For the entire first half of the period, they were hemmed in to their own zone, which has become a tradition for them when they are playing playoff-caliber teams. 

It finally resulted in a goal for Buffalo at 9:00 in the opening frame. Owen Power gave his team a 1-0 lead with his 3rd of the season. 

Shockingly (based on their play), this 1-0 lead didn't last long for the Sabres. At 12:22 of the first, Frank Nazar tied it when Connor Bedard made a great centering pass for him to score on the power play. 

At 15:46, however, Tage Thompson gave the Sabres the lead back. Jack Quinn made a great play along the wall to find Thompson, who zipped one home. 

That 2-1 score would not only hold through the first intermission, but the second as well. The Sabres completely dominated play for most of the middle frame, but they were unable to beat Spencer Knight. 

In the third period, the Blackhawks looked like the team that was well rested, while the Sabres looked like the team that played in a difficult game the night prior. At 8:22 of the final frame, Sam Rinzel threw one on net, and Frank Nazar deflected it home to tie the game at 2. 

Towards the end of the regulation, the Sabres did find a little bit of energy and started to control play more.  That momentum was killed by a penalty drawn by Andrew Mangiapane with 1:38 remaining in regulation. The Blackhawks did not win it there, but some of that power play bled into overtime. 

Although the Blackhawks were unable to win on the power play in overtime, they did once it returned to 3-on-3. Ryan Donato scored with a snipe, and his team skated off with a much-needed victory. 

This was an important goal for Ryan Donato. He has scored a lot of great goals for the Blackhawks, but he's been a bit snakebitten recently. Now, he can build on the feeling of scoring this one. The same can be said for Frank Nazar. He hasn't been as lackluster as Donato, but he got the job done with two greasy goals, which is what it takes to win in the NHL. 

Spencer Knight deserves credit for this win as well. He made 21 saves on 23 Sabres shots in the win. That isn't the most volume he's ever faced, but there was a lot of Sabres zone time and great-danger chances that he bailed his team out of. Without him, they wouldn't have stayed in the hockey game before Nazar tied it up. 

The Blackhawks needed to have a good showing in this game. It wasn't perfect, or even close to perfect, but there were moments to build on, and they got the two points. 

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What’s Next For The Blackhawks?

The Chicago Blackhawks will be back at the United Center for their next game on Saturday. They will face the Winnipeg Jets at home for the second time this season. This will be a day game, as the Blackhawks will play the Jets at 2:30 PM CT. 

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