Dahlin has 3 points, Sabres edge Blackhawks to end 3-game skid

CHICAGO -- Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and two assists for the Buffalo Sabres in a 3-2 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Sunday.

“We found a way to win,” Dahlin said. “It wasn’t pretty, but we found a way to win. That’s what I take away from this game. We had a lot of chances, actually. It was a lot to learn today, but we found a way to win.”

Erik Johnson scored the go-ahead goal at 10:36 of the third period, and Jeff Skinner scored for the Sabres (8-9-1), who ended a three-game skid. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 24 saves.

“I liked the battle and the commit to the end result,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “I felt a lot of guys had some heavy legs. They weren’t skating as well as they would. We complicated some things, but we fought hard all the way, obviously, to the end. I felt Dahlin was a major, major component, both defensively and obviously offensively with a goal and two assists. What a game by him.”

Philipp Kurashev had a goal and an assist, and Taylor Raddysh scored for the Blackhawks (5-11-0), who have lost four straight. Petr Mrazek made 17 saves.

“Yeah, it gets heavy on everybody,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “I didn’t really like our first period. I thought we just didn’t have a lot of energy. With the first shift in the second period, we played like we should have. We played fast, we played physical, and got us some power-play time out of that and I think it got us going a little bit.

“But you know what? We’re going into the third period a lot these days tied, and we don’t come out on top. … There’s lots of young guys, but there’s some really good veteran leaders that are talking and saying the right things for these guys to stay up and stay positive. Because the only way we’re getting out of it is for the group in there themselves to get us out of there by winning one.”

Dahlin gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 4:53 of the first period on a wrist shot, scoring from the slot after Zach Benson’s pass from the right wing.

“I just told myself to go out there, don’t think and just play off my own instincts and compete,” Dahlin said. “That’s all I can do right now. Sometimes they’re not pretty, but sometimes it works. As long as we win, I’m happy.”

Raddysh tied it 1-1 at 3:28 of the second period. Kurashev picked up the puck below the goal line and skated into the right circle. His pass to the front of the net was redirected in by Raddysh.

“It’s frustrating,” Raddysh said of the loss. “There are times where we can dominate, and there’s games like that where I think we should walk out with a win and end up losing and not getting a point out of it. We’ve got to find out a way to put the full 60 minutes together and come out with points and wins at the end of it.”

Skinner put Buffalo back ahead 2-1 at 10:55 on the power play, scoring on the forehand following Dahlin’s pass along the goal line.

Kurashev tied it 2-2 at 17:28 after scoring on a rebound of a shot from Connor Bedard.

Johnson gave the Sabres a 3-2 lead at 10:36 of the third period, skating in from the left side and putting the puck over Mrazek’s shoulder.

“I was actually just jumping on the ice,” Johnson said. “The puck squirted out to the weak side. I came down the left side. The guys that were out there, I think it might have been [Casey Mittelstadt] or [Skinner] kept the puck in. It went over to the weak side, I saw some ice, took it and just tried to drive wide and elevate the puck and get it to the net as quick as I could.

“Thankfully it was able to go in. We weren’t at our best tonight. You’re not always going to be at your best, and you’ve got to find a way to win the game. We were able to do that.”

NOTES: Dahlin scored his 50th NHL goal and surpassed John Van Boxmeer (49) for sixth on the Sabres’ all-time list among defensemen; he also became the third-fastest defenseman to score 50 goals with Buffalo (373 games), trailing only Phil Housley (148 games) and Jerry Korab (326 games). … Bedard has eight points (four goals, four assists) over his past five games.