Chicago Blackhawks fall 4-2 to Buffalo Sabres, Craig Smith scores 2
JJ Peterka scored his fourth goal in three games and assisted on a goal by Tage Thompson to lead the Buffalo Sabres past the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Saturday night.
Peterka put Buffalo ahead 3-2 with 1:23 left in the second period, beating Arvid Soderblom with a one-timer from the low right circle off Thompson's cross-ice feed. Ryan McLeod added an empty-netter with 26 seconds left.
Thompson and Beck Malenstyn connected on consecutive shots just under three minutes apart in the first period to give the Sabres a 2-0 lead.
Craig Smith scored his first two goals as a Blackhawk in the second period to tie it at 2-all. Signed as a depth forward in the offseason, the 35-year-old Smith connected from the left circle at 6:28 of the second. He swept in a rebound just over six minutes later. Lukas Reichel assisted on both goals.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 35 saves for his first win of the season.
Soderblom stopped 18 shots for Chicago in his second start.
Peterka has come back strong in four games after sitting out two with a concussion. Buffalo forward Jordan Greenway sat out Saturday night because of an unspecified health reason.
Chicago forwards Patrick Maroon (undisclosed minor injury) and Joey Anderson (illness) didn't play.
Luukkonen stopped Philipp Kurashev's drive from the slot with 1:44 left in the third and Teuvo Teravainen's deflection with 55 seconds remaining to preserve the lead. Soderblom was on the bench for an extra attacker.
Buffalo went 0 for 4 on the power play and dropped to 0 for 21 with the man advantage for the season. The Sabres are 6-0-1 against Chicago in their last seven meetings.
The Sabres face Dallas on Tuesday night to start a four-game homestand. The Blackhawks host Vancouver on Tuesday night.
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