Defending Stanley Cup champions Chicago Blackhawks get first win of the season
The defending Stanley Cup champions, the Chicago Blackhawks, finally got their first win of the season by defeating the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo on Monday night.
How it went down
The Sabres were quick out of the gate scoring after just 14 seconds thanks to Drew Stafford who snapped a quick wrist shot past Corey Crawford.
Only two and a half minutes later and Derek Roy was left alone on the doorstep to fire home a rebound and the Sabres were up 2-0.
The Blackhawks got a lifeline when Patrick Kane got his first of the season midway through the first period on the power play. Defenceman Duncan Keith made a nifty behind the back pass to Kane giving him
just enough room to take a couple of steps toward goal and fire the puck past Ryan Miller.
With just under six minutes to go in the first, a scary incident saw Jason Pominville stretchered off the ice after a vicious hit into the boards from Niklas Hjalmarsson.
The Blackhawks then got two goals in the second period, one from 19-year-old rookie Nick Leddy and one from Marian Hossa. Hossa then got his second of the night and third of the season early in the third
to give the Blackhawks a 4-2 lead.
The Sabres pulled one back a couple of minutes later through Tim Connolly, but the Blackhawks and Corey Crawford did enough from then on to get the win.
What they're saying
Hjalmarsson, who can expect some disciplinary sanctions to be handed down from the NHL, spoke about his concern for Pominville after the hit:
"You never want to see someone laying on the ice like that," he said. "I thought it was a shoulder-to-shoulder hit. It's good to know that he's up and walking, and hopefully he'll get back as soon as possible."
Despite struggling early on with two quick goals, Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford was solid the rest of the way, saving 32 of 35 shots on the night.
"A little panic sets into your head, but you have to try and brush that away," he said. "I just kept battling and stuck with it."
What it all means
The Chicago Blackhawks will feel good that they finally got the ball rolling on their 2010-2011 season and will look to carry the momentum over to Wednesday night when they host the Nashville Predators.
The Buffalo Sabres are now 1-2 and play host to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night.
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