Sabres clinch Atlantic Division as Thompson scores twice
The Buffalo Sabres clinched the Atlantic Division title with a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, ending a 14-season playoff drought.
Tage Thompson scored twice and Alex Tuch had a goal and assist as the Buffalo Sabres clinched the Atlantic Division title with a 5-1 victory against the host Chicago Blackhawks on Monday. Buffalo (50-23-8, 108 points) recorded its fourth straight victory. The Sabres have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference behind the Carolina Hurricanes' 111 points.
After snapping a 14-season playoff drought this month, Buffalo will open the postseason at home against the top wild card, either Boston or Ottawa. Ryan McLeod and Josh Norris also scored while Rasmus Dahlin notched two assists for the Sabres. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 15 saves.
Rookie Ryan Greene scored for Chicago, and Spencer Knight stopped 21 shots. The Sabres outshot the Blackhawks 26-16. Chicago finished 0-for-5 on the power play compared to 0-for-2 for Buffalo.
The Blackhawks (28-39-14, 70 points) put a brief scare into the Sabres when Greene opened the scoring with a short-handed goal at 3:58 of the first period. With Sam Rinzel off for high-sticking, Greene took an Ilya Mikheyev pass off the rush, made a move in front and beat Luukkonen with a wrist shot just 14 seconds into the Buffalo man advantage. Also sluggish at even strength in the early going, the Sabres tied the game at 19:02 of the first period.