Blackhawks rally to top Sabres 4-3

These new Blackhawks looked an awful lot like the old Blackhawks on Saturday night at the United Center.

In other words, they found a way to win on a night when most teams would have been run out of their own building.

Thanks largely to sloppy defense early the Hawks were outshot 41-21 by the Buffalo Sabres only to rally in the third period for a 4-3 victory on goals by Dave Bolland and Patrick Sharp.

“We got better as the game went on, but it wasn't a good start for us, said Sharp, who scored 2 goals for the second straight game. “We came out a little flat and were playing on our heels. We had a better second period and a gutsy third period.

Hawks goalie Marty Turco was the difference with 38 saves of all varieties.

“I thought that was a goalie win, Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Over the course of the year you get a few, and that was one of them. He made several key saves, particularly as we went down the stretch. He was sharp and alert and did a good job.

The Hawks were outshot 19-9 in the first period and came out trailing 2-1.

“It was tough to watch there in the first period, Quenneville said. “They took it to us in every fashion. We were lucky to come out of it 2-1 and even after the second we were in a 1-goal game.

“We were very fortunate to be in the hockey game.

Even into the third period the Hawks looked like they might lose their third game in a row to start the season. But Dave Bolland busted in with the teams playing 4-on-4 and beat Sabres goalie Patrick Lalime at 9:36.

Sharp got what proved to be the game-winner on a power play with 7:08 to play on a perfect feed across the goal mouth by Tomas Kopecky.

“We had people make some timely plays in the third period, Turco said.

Sharp had opened the scoring at 6:25 of the first period when he finished a 2-on-1 with Patrick Kane.

“A couple nice plays out there, Sharp said. “A nice pass by Kaner, then another one by Kopecky down there. It might have looked like a blind pass, but we talk about that play all the time and he did a good job of getting the puck over.

It was a hard-hitting game by both teams, but there was no carry-over from Monday in Buffalo when Niklas Hjalmarsson's hit on Jason Pominville resulted in a concussion for the Sabres winger and a two-game suspension for the Hawks defenseman.

It was Hjalmarsson's first game back Saturday and several Sabres targeted him with some hard checks, but there were no fireworks.

“They took a few runs at him, but they were honest and clean and fair about it, Sharp said. “Nobody likes to see people get hurt like what happened in Buffalo, but I think it was classy on their part to play hard and try to hit him but there was no dirty stuff on their part.

The Hawks had an apparent goal wiped out in the first period by referee Tim Peel, who ruled Kopecky interfered with Lalime even though replays clearly showed Kopecky was first pushed into the goalie by defenseman Steve Montador.