Sabres rally from four goals down, defeat Blackhawks

CHICAGO --Tage Thompson scored a power-play goal with 12 seconds remaining, and the Buffalo Sabres rallied from four goals down to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-5 at United Center on Monday.

Thompson broke his stick on a one-timer from the left circle, but the puck caromed off the end boards, hit the left skate of Kevin Lankinen, and deflected into the net.
"I was already halfway to the bench and I heard our bench going nuts," Thompson said. "I turned around and saw them chasing me down. Yeah, I had no clue."
Said Buffalo coach Don Granato, "I saw [Thompson] coming back to the bench to get a new stick. When it went off that back wall, it does click in your mind as you watched it that it can bounce back and back in. We had talked about lively boards this morning. There was irony to that because we had spoken of that."

Victor Olofsson had two goals and an assist, and Dylan Cozens and Rasmus Dahlin each had two assists for the Sabres (24-33-10), who are 4-0-2 in a six-game point streak. Dustin Tokarski made 16 saves.
Alex DeBrincat had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks (24-33-10), who have lost two straight. Lankinen made 31 saves.
"We stopped playing the game the right way," Chicago coach Derek King said. "We just decided … to just go and do what they felt like they wanted to do. Didn't do anything we asked them to do. First period, they did. They played the game the right way. Second period, nothing. Third period, they kind of threw some flashes. It's like putting lipstick on, right? Clean it up a little bit. Make it look good. Not good enough.
"Very surprised. Disappointed. And they should be disappointed. So we'll find out come next game how disappointed they really are about losing a game like that."
Olofsson scored a power-play goal to make it 4-1 at 4:50 of the second period. He then cut it to 4-2 at 10:24 from the left circle off a pass from Jeff Skinner from below the goal line.
Kyle Okposo got Buffalo to within 4-3 at 14:32. He was credited with the goal when Cozens' shot deflected off his skate and the skate of Blackhawks defenseman Erik Gustafsson before redirecting into the net.
Vinnie Hinostroza tied it 4-4 at 2:39 of the third period when he knocked in a rebound in front.
DeBrincat put the Blackhawks back in front 5-4 at 10:56 with a power-play goal, but Alex Tuch tied it 5-5 at 17:46 when he tapped in a pass from Olofsson near the right post.
"What a game," Granato said. "My message to the team after was you get consumed and frustrated by perfection. We have to disregard that. When you win and you win championships and you win games, and these teams that win, they do it in imperfect situations."

Calvin de Haan gave Chicago a 1-0 lead at 7:53 of the first period on a one-timer from the right circle.
Sam Lafferty made it 2-0 at 13:44. He forced a turnover by Sabres defenseman Will Butcher with a hit in the corner, skated into the slot, and redirected Jake McCabe's shot from the left point.
Jonathan Toews extended the lead to 3-0 at 16:55 when he toe-dragged Mattias Samuelsson and scored with a backhand in front.
Seth Jones pushed it to 4-0 at 1:21 of the second period.
"I don't know if there's any excuses for that (blowing a four-goal lead)," Toews said. "We had to find a way to find our energy tonight, and I think we did a good job of that in the first. Then I think when we had the chance to just relax and get a little comfortable, just chill out a little bit, that's what we tend to do. Even if we're tired, even if we're up a couple of goals, there's a lot of hockey left to play."
NOTES:The Sabres rallied from four goals down to win for the fourth time in their history. They previously accomplished the feat twice against the Boston Bruins (Jan. 21, 1989; Feb. 25, 1983) and once against the Pittsburgh Penguins (March 10, 1976). … Blackhawks forward Kirby Dach was scratched because of a non-COVID illness.