The Sabres defeat the Blackhawks and clinch the Atlantic Division crown
Tage Thompson scored twice, and Alex Tuch had a goal and an assist, as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the visiting Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 on Monday to capture the Atlantic Division title.
Buffalo (50-23-8, 108 points) claimed its fourth consecutive victory. The Sabres had the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, trailing the Carolina Hurricanes’ 111 points.
Buffalo, which ended a 14-year playoff drought this month, will face either the Boston Bruins or the Ottawa Senators in the first round.
Ryan McLeod and Josh Norris also scored, while Rasmus Dahlin had two assists for the Sabres. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 15 saves.
Chicago’s rookie Ryan Greene scored and Spencer Knight saved 21 shots.
The Sabres outshot the Blackhawks 26 to 16. Chicago completed 0-for-5 on the power play, while Buffalo went 0-for-2.
The Blackhawks (28-39-14, 70 points) gave the Sabres a brief scare when Greene scored a short-handed goal at 3:58 in the first period. With Sam Rinzel out for high-sticking, Greene grabbed an Ilya Mikheyev pass off the rush, moved in front, and beat Luukkonen with a wrist shot 14 seconds into Buffalo’s man advantage.
Also lethargic at even strength in the early stages, the Sabres tied the game at 19:02 in the first period. Josh Doan stole a pass from Greene inside the Chicago blue line and gave the puck to Norris, who blasted over Knight from the left circle.
Norris extended his point streak to five games, while Doan extended it to four.
At 13:00 in the second period, Buffalo capitalized on another Blackhawks turnover to grab the lead for good. Thompson, the club’s leading scorer with 81 points, collected the puck near the goal line and scored by weaving through two players.
At 5:38 in the third, the Sabres upped the score 3-1. Dahlin’s stretch pass to Tuch in the middle of the ice resulted in a shot that hit Knight’s glove and went into the net.
Thompson scored his 40th goal in less than six minutes, converting a one-timer from Dahlin.
McLeod capped the scoring at 18:35 in the third.
Frank Nazar, a Blackhawks forward, wore a cage mask after departing Saturday’s home loss to the St. Louis Blues early due to a puck to the face.