Dach's two goals boost Blackhawks past Sabres for fourth straight win

CHICAGO -- Kirby Dach scored two goals, and the Chicago Blackhawks extended their season-high winning streak to four games with a 4-1 victory against the Buffalo Sabres at United Center on Sunday.

"I'm starting to play good," said Dach, a first-round pick (No. 3) at the 2019 NHL Draft. "I have a lot of confidence in myself and the team is playing good, so I think that kind of helps out with individual success.
"When your team is going the right way and you're winning games and scoring goals and your top players are producing -I'm] not saying I'm a top player or anything -- but it helps a lot when everybody is kind of going and we're scoring."
***[WATCH: [All Sabres vs. Blackhawks highlights]*
Patrick Kane extended his point streak to nine games with a power-play goal, Jonathan Toews also scored and Corey Crawford made 33 saves for Chicago (9-7-4), which is 6-1-1 in its past eight games after going 2-4-2 in the previous eight.
"We didn't really give up that much," said Crawford, who has won each of his 11 career starts against the Sabres. "We got a lot more goals too, so that seems to be rolling for us right now. We were able to get chances in other games, but the puck's going in a lot right now, so that's kind of nice."
Jack Eichel scored his fifth goal in two games, and Carter Hutton made 23 saves for Buffalo (10-7-3), which went 0-for-4 on the power play and is 1-5-2 in its past eight.
"They just had Grade A [chances] and we didn't," Eichel said. "Their chances were probably better than ours. We just didn't play a good game."

Dach gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 15:43 of the first period with a backhand shot from the left circle. He then made it 2-0 at 12:32 of the second when he drove past Eichel and backhanded a shot from the left side of the crease.
"That's my guy on that second goal, he scores," Eichel said. "That's really frustrating for me, obviously. I've got to have him there; there's no other way to say it. He goes right by me. Obviously, [I] would really love to have that play back. Can't happen. [He] made some nice plays."
Kane made it 3-0 at 3:42 of the third period with a power-play goal from the right circle. He has 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) during the nine-game point streak.

Toews scored at 8:57 of the third off a pass from Brandon Saad below the goal line.
Chicago is 4-0-0 in the second game of back to backs; it won 7-2 at the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
"It's nice to get on a little bit of a run here," Kane said. "It's something we've been waiting for all season. We play pretty well in these back to backs, so nice to put a little stretch together and feel good about our game.
"Obviously we're getting production from all over the lineup right now, and I think that's key if you're going to go on some winning stretches."
Eichel, who scored four goals in a 4-2 win against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, ended Crawford's shutout on a breakaway at 9:39 of the third for the 4-1 final.

They said it

"I thought we started well, actually. I thought there was a lot to like in the first period, but as the game went on, I thought they made the most of their chances and we've got to do a better job of capitalizing on ours. To be honest, it can't be the same guys every night. I think we need contributions from up and down our lineup." -- Sabres forward Jimmy Vesey
"I think it was a great team effort. Our PK was solid; I don't think they had anything from the middle on their power play, which is great. Just shots, one-timers from the side, and I've just got to try and control the rebound and our guys take care of the rest." -- Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford

Need to know

Chicago is 15-1-0 in its past 16 games against Buffalo. … Sabres forward Tage Thompson left in the third period after colliding with Blackhawks defenseman Olli Maatta. Buffalo coach Ralph Krueger did not have an update. … Eichel has seven points (six goals, one assist) in his past four games. … Dach is the third 18-year-old in Blackhawks history to have a multigoal game (regular season or Stanley Cup Playoffs), joining Eddie Olczyk (April 10, 1985, against the Detroit Red Wings), and Kane (Oct. 23, 2007, against the Columbus Blue Jackets). Dach has six points (four goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak. … Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook played in his 1,100th NHL game. The 34-year-old ranks second in Blackhawks history in games played (Stan Mikita, 1,394).

What's next

Sabres: Host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV)
Blackhawks: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, FS-CR, NHL.TV)