Josh Doan’s two-goal night paced an offensive outburst by the Buffalo Sabres, who rode a strong start to a 9-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at KeyBank Center on Friday.
The Sabres have won three of their last four games. Their nine goals were tied for the most by any team in a single NHL game this season, with Colorado having previously hit the mark in a win over Edmonton on Nov. 8.
Doan buried his own rebound off a feed from Tage Thompson to put the Sabres on the board with 6:03 remaining in the first period, igniting a run of three goals for Buffalo in a span of 2:36.
Buffalo added three goals during the second period, two of which were scored eight seconds apart by Mattias Samuelsson and Ryan McLeod, then tacked on two more in the third.
Alex Tuch matched his career high with four assists in the win, one of nine Sabres to finish the night with multiple points. Jason Zucker had a goal and two assists in his return from an eight-game absence due to an illness. Thompson, Ryan McLeod, Jack Quinn, Jacob Bryson and Bowen Byram each had a goal and an assist while Rasmus Dahlin had two assists.
Thompson extended his goal-scoring streak to five games with his 11th of the season. Samuelsson and Dahlin extended their respective point streaks to four games.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 21 saves, including a breakaway stop on Blackhawks leading scorer Connor Bedard when the Sabres were protecting a 5-2 lead during the second period.
Buffalo has one game remaining on its four-game homestand, at home against Carolina on Sunday.
