The Chicago Blackhawks turned in another sloppy, turnover-filled mess on Monday night, falling 5-1 to the Buffalo Sabres in their second-to-last game of the season.
At least it’s almost over.
The Blackhawks opened the scoring just over four minutes into the game. Ilya Mikheyev intercepted a pass from Rasmus Dahlin, skated the puck out before passing it ahead to Ryan Greene, and Greene flipped it upstairs for a shorthanded goal.
GOAL: Ryan Greene with a shorthanded goal to open the scoring. pic.twitter.com/Nv6zrQ3t7k
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 14, 2026
The Sabres tied it 1-1 with 58 seconds left in the first. Greene turned the puck over near the top of the defensive zone, Josh Doan jumped on it, and fed Josh Norris for a wrister from the circle.
Norris ties it after Greene turned it over: pic.twitter.com/wGv27KtIbu
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 14, 2026
The Sabres took a 2-1 lead around the 13-minute mark of the second. Tyler Bertuzzi fired a pass into Louis Crevier’s skates, Crevier failed to corral it, and Tage Thompson pounced before snapping a quick wrister past Spencer Knight.
Thompson makes it 2-1: pic.twitter.com/L1xWKScYZz
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 14, 2026
Alex Tuch extended Buffalo’s lead to 3-1 at 5:38 of the third, collecting Dahlin’s stretch pass and finishing a breakaway with a wrist shot.
Tuch scores off a stretch pass from Dahlin: pic.twitter.com/QmD2MNv6DB
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 14, 2026
Then a brutal Blackhawks line change handed the Sabres a 4-on-2, and a beautiful passing sequence between Jason Zucker, Dahlin, and Thompson ended with Thompson wiring home an absolute snipe tp make it 4-1.
Thompson pounds his second of the game: pic.twitter.com/ke6mVfTUiU
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 14, 2026
To add insult to injury, the Sabres tacked on another to make it 5-1 with 1:25 remaining. Another offensive-zone turnover, this time by Wyatt Kaiser, sparked yet another Buffalo rush with numbers, and some nifty passing between Owen Power and Zack Benson set up Ryan McLeod for the finish.
5-1 Sabres. Not sure where the backcheck was: pic.twitter.com/bZ8FjdDBW1
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 14, 2026
Notes
Sorry, that’s all I got for this one. Below are some post-game quotes.
Jeff Blashill: "It's a little unfortunate these last couple games have gone this way, because honestly we've done tons of good things to build this in the right direction, and unfortunately this sours your taste."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 14, 2026
Kaiser postgame vs. the Sabres: #Blackhawks
— Gail Kauchak (@littlegailk) April 14, 2026
“There’s been a lack of battle winning, I think. It’s not a lack of effort, I don't think, but just, we're just losing a lot of battles in critical areas that lead to ice getting tilted on us.”
Jeff Blashill was asked if he thinks the Blackhawks can turn it around like the Sabres did this year in 2026-27.
— Kalen Lumpkins (@kalenalumpkins) April 14, 2026
His answer:
"We'll see. We've got a chance to prove it. When you look at Buffalo's year, they've had a lot of young talent that they've built over time…
… I…
It’s definitely warranted, Wyatt.
Wyatt Kaiser on boos from the home fans tonight: "I don't know if it's unwarranted, but it's not fun."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 14, 2026
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Tage Thompson (BUF) — 2 goals
- Ramus Dahlin (BUF) — 2 assists
- Alex Tuch (BUF) — 1 goal, 1 assist
What’s Next
The suffering mercifully comes to an end Wednesday night, when the Blackhawks play their final game of the season against the San Jose Sharks at 7:30 p.m.