BUFFALO – Alex Tuch’s estimate was just a bit off. Following his slick three-goal performance in Friday’s 6-2 annihilation of the Chicago Blackhawks, the Sabres winger said scoring his first goal at home in “several months” took a monkey off his back.
In reality, Tuch had last scored Nov. 29 in KeyBank Center. Given the Sabres’ recent 13-game winless skid and his own struggles, that probably feels like months ago.
“Doing it in front of the home crowd was that much more special,” Tuch said following the Sabres’ first home win since Nov. 14.
Tuch, a first-liner who offers heart and soul in addition to his skill and smarts, scored just twice during the Sabres’ stunning fall down the standings.
To charge back up, they need the Baldwinsville native to be one of their catalysts.
On Friday, with Tuch dazzling the sellout crowd of 19,070 fans, the Sabres ran a feeble opponent out of their building, opening up a 4-0 lead in the first period and earning their second straight win.
“Our play at home here hasn’t been what we like, so for him to get three and the crowd to have a great night was, I thought for (Tuch), he should feel good about that and it should propel his game, too,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.
For the first time since late November, the Sabres should feel good about themselves. Following a three-day Christmas break, they picked up Friday where they left off in Monday’s 7-1 road win over the New York Islanders, their first triumph since Nov. 23.
Winger Zach Benson scored 9:51 into the contest. Tuch followed at 12:23 before winger Jack Quinn scored 15 seconds later.
The Sabres held a 3-0 lead and Chicago hadn’t registered a shot on goal.
In 2022, the Blackhawks borrowed from the Sabres’ old blueprint by unloading their best players and tearing the team down to the studs.
The Blackhawks began a deep rebuilding process, or, more appropriately, tanking.
Perhaps it will pay off someday. They drafted teenage sensation Connor Bedard first overall in 2023, so they have a superstar-in-the-making and a huge building block.
But right now, as the Blackhawks illustrated early Friday, they’re one awful team.
They finally recorded their first shot on Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 13:11 into the game.
Center Dylan Cozens extended the lead to 4-0 in the final minute.
The Sabres, who began the night just two points ahead of the 32nd-ranked Blackhawks, had an 11-2 shot advantage after one period.
“We know where we’ve been at and now we’d like to turn the corner, turn the page and keep going in this direction,” Ruff said. “I think the focus, we talked about the focus coming out of the Christmas break and you really don’t know what you’re going to get after three days off, but I think they just proved that they were ready to come out and play.”
Having to travel from Chicago on Friday morning – teams can’t fly ahead during the break – certainly contributed to the Blackhawks’ wretched start.
The Blackhawks settled down a bit when goalie Arvid Soderblom replaced Petr Mrazek following the first period, moving within 4-2 early in the third period before receiving a power play.
But the Sabres, who blew an early four-goal and lost to the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 3, killed the penalty and extinguished the threat.
Tuch scored on a breakaway after leaving the penalty box at 5:48 and completed his first hat trick since April 1, 2023 and the third of his career at 15:06.
“We let them back in it a little bit,” Cozens said. “I don’t think we got nervous. We got nervous in the past and started to sit back a little bit and feel the pressure, but we talked a lot on the bench, we didn’t get down, we just kept pushing. And that’s something we’ve learned that’s really important for us.”
The Sabres improved to 2-2-2 when they chase the opponent’s starting goalie this season, a mark that illustrates their trouble holding leads.
Captain Rasmus Dahlin recorded two assists in the first period, giving him a whopping six in a four-period stretch since returning from back spasms Monday.
Winger JJ Peterka registered an assist, extending his point streak to a career-long six games.
