In Buffalo, Victor Olofsson scored the first and last goals of the game on Saturday, both off the power play. The Second came in extra time for a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
“I had a good, good chance right before,” Olofsson said. ‘I shot it right off [Blackhawks defenseman Jake] McCabe there, and I knew ‘Ras’ was going to find me again. … I’ll take it.”
Craig Anderson made 23 saves in the Sabres win.
“You’re going to go through a whole season, you’re going to face these moments, and we were really concerned with the response and the moments when we face them,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “That’s how you’re going to become a better hockey team. … The other night was extremely frustrating (3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday), but you’ve got to learn how to handle that and you got to learn to fight through it, and I thought that probably helped us tonight.”
Jason Dickinson, Sam Lafferty, and Taylor Raddysh were the Blackhawks strikers in the loss.
“We got away from our skating game a little bit, and it doesn’t take much for that team to make you pay,” Lafferty said. “So yeah, disappointing, but some good things to build on for tomorrow (against the Minnesota Wild).”
Buffalo’s Tage Thompson hit for a double in the third period, once to get the Sabres within 3-2 of the Blackhawks, and the second tied the game, 3-3, to force the extra session.
“I think it was just a matter of time,” said Thompson. “If you’re getting chances, I think that’s all you can really ask for. If you’re not getting chances, that’s when you’ve kind of got to be looking yourself in the mirror to see what’s going on. If you’re getting chances, I think they’re bound to go in. Previous game, maybe facing a hot goalie and unlucky bounces here or there, so it was nice to get a couple tonight.”
After took the early lead, Dickinson, Lafferty, and Raddysh rallied Chicago for a 3-1 lead.
“I thought it was the last part of the third period, the second half, maybe even their penalty kill gave them some spark,” Richardson said. “We’ve seen that on our side, so we understand how that can lift a team and get it going. But we’ve got to fight through that. We’re not necessarily a really young team right now, but we’re a new team, and finding that togetherness will be through lessons like tonight and last game (6-5 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday).”
Arvid Soderblom made 41 saves in the Chicago loss.
“He played great. He really deserved better tonight, and I thought he looked really calm in there, made some really big saves on chances that were primaries,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “That’s something we want to clean up as a team, especially in front of a young goaltender, but he showed a lot of poise out there. It was nice to see.”
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