PREVIEW: Blackhawks Close Out Season in Buffalo

TIME: 6 p.m. CT
TV: NBCSCH | RADIO: WGN 720 AM | STREAM:
MyTeamsApp
(In Market) &
ESPN+
(Out of Market)
The Blackhawks and Sabres will close out their respective seasons on Friday night in Buffalo as each looks to enter the offseason on a winning note.
Winners in both games this week, Chicago will look to push its current win streak to three straight, which would mark the longest such run since late January. Buffalo had won four straight prior to a loss Thursday night in Boston and looks to finish with victories in five of their last six.

TEAM RECORDS

• CHI: 28-42-11, 67 PTS
• BUF: 31-39-11, 73 PTS

HOW TO WATCH

Chris Vosters and Colby Cohen have the call on NBC Sports Chicago with pregame coverage beginning at 5:30 p.m.
John Wiedeman and Paul Caponigri have the radio broadcast on WGN Radio.

VS. BUFFALO

Alex DeBrincat (1G, 1A), Dominik Kubalik (2A) and Dylan Strome (2A) paced the club with two points each against the Sabres on March 28 as the Sabres topped Chicago at home, 6-5.
Patrick Kane picked up an assist and has points in 15 of 19 career games against his hometown team, including in five straight matchups. Three of those five contests were multi-point efforts.
Jonathan Toews recorded a goal on March 28 and now has points in nine consecutive games against Buffalo. Jake McCabe registered an assist and paced the team with six blocked shots against his former club. Reese Johnson skated in a career-high 17:33 of total ice time.
Chicago is 16-5-0 against Buffalo dating back to the beginning of the 2006-07 season. The Blackhawks are victorious in 15 of their last 17 contests against the Sabres.

RAD ADD

Taylor Raddysh recorded his first career multi-goal game with two markers on Wednesday night. He has scored six goals since being acquired by the Blackhawks on March 18 (20 GP), one more than he had through 53 games with the Lightning.
Raddysh notched seven shots on goal in Wednesday's first period. He is the fourth Blackhawk to notch seven or more shots in a period since 1997-98 (when shots by period was officially tracked), joining Brandon Saad, Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Arnason.

SAM STAYS

A pending unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, Sam Lafferty signed a
two-year contract extension
on Friday morning ($1,150,000 salary cap hit).
The 27-year-old has a career-best eight assists, matched a career high with 13 points and has scored five goals in 55 games with Chicago and Pittsburgh this season. His five markers are one off his career high that he set in 50 games with Pittsburgh during the 2019-20 campaign. Since he made his team debut on Jan. 13 against Montreal, Lafferty paces the club with 101 hits.
"Sam's speed and up-tempo style is the brand of hockey we hope to see the team play over the coming years," General Manager Kyle Davidson said. "He has showcased those skills since we acquired him. Sam adds a dynamic to our roster that allows him to fit seamlessly throughout the lineup and give our coaches a reliable forward that can be trusted in nearly every situation."