Kulich's late goal propels Sabres past Blackhawks

Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR) - Jiri Kulich's first goal in nearly a year was the difference maker for the Buffalo Sabres in a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night at KeyBank Center.

Chicago scored the game's first goal midway through the opening period, as forward Ryan Donato received a pass from defenseman Alex Vlasic in the slot, and buried the goal past Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Vlasic was pinching in from the blue line, down below the goal line when he laid the pass out into the open slot for Donato.

The Sabres' deficit doubled to two goals several minutes later when the Blackhawks used precise passing to find Tyler Bertuzzi. Teuvo Teravainen brought the puck into the offensive zone and fed Anton Frondell in the slot, who then passed it back to Bertuzzi for the winger's first goal of the season.

Sabres winger Jack Quinn was able to find some open space in the offensive zone late in the first period, allowing him to use a wrist shot to trim the Sabres' deficit to a goal, 2-1.

Quinn has scored in both games to start the 2026-27 season.

Zach Metsa was credited with the only assist on the goal for his first point of the season.

The Sabres continued to control the play to start the second period, and it eventually paid off.

Following an offensive zone faceoff win, defenseman Louis Crevier waited patiently for an open shooting lane and fired a puck from the point that was deflected into the Chicago net by forward Tage Thompson. The goal was Thompson's first of the season.

Crevier picked up his first point as a member of the Sabres in the process, while Josh Norris also received an assist on the game-tying goal.

After Oliver Moore took the first Chicago penalty of the game and his teammates killed off the minor infraction, the forward stepped out of the penalty box and scored his first goal of the season to re-establish the Blackhawks lead. Moore broke to the net on a 2-on-1 rush with Frondell, and released a one-time shot that beat Luukkonen to make it 3-2, Blackhawks.

The Sabres had an early answer in the third period to, once again, tie the game, this time at 3-3. Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin joined a rush and took a pass from forward Peyton Krebs in open space. He then fired a quick shot over the shoulder of Blackhawks goalie Spencer Knight to even the score.

Krebs and Mattias Samuelsson were credited with assists on the goal.

The Sabres' first lead of the night came following a sustained offensive zone possession while the two teams were skating 4-on-4. After Kulich was unable to score on his first scoring chance on a 2-on-1 rush with Thompson, he buried his second after a pass across the ice from Owen Power.

The go-ahead goal came following a Zach Benson tripping penalty that negated a power play chance moments earlier.

From there, the Sabres shut down any last-minute effort from Chicago to tie the game, and secured their first win of the year in the home opener at KeyBank Center.

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SCORING RECAP

First Period:
BUF: 16:24 - Jack Quinn (2) (Zach Metsa)
CHI: 7:59 - Ryan Donato (1) (Alex Vlasic, Nick Lardis); 11:24 - Tyler Bertuzzi (1) (Anton Frondell, Teuvo Teravainen)

Second Period:
BUF: 5:41 - Tage Thompson (1) (Louis Crevier, Josh Norris)
CHI: 18:18 - Oliver Moore (1) (Anton Frondell, Alex Vlasic)

Third Period:
BUF: 6:10 - Rasmus Dahlin (1) (Peyton Krebs, Mattias Samuelsson); 13:20 - Jiri Kulich (1) (Owen Power, Tage Thompson)
CHI: NONE

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STATS OF THE GAME:

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BlueStar Three Stars of the Game:

1.) Jiri Kulich -BUF
2.) Jack Quinn -BUF
3.) Rasmus Dahlin -BUF

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What's next:

The Sabres remain home as part of a five-game homestand to open the season. They will welcome the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. faceoff at KeyBank Center. Pregame coverage on WGR with Joe Cali and Derek Kramer begins at 6 p.m. on the flagship home of the Sabres Radio Network - WGR.