The Sabres lost much more than just a game on Monday night. The team may be without forward Jason Pominville for a while.
Niklas Hjalmarsson crushed Pominville from behind and into the boards, injuring the Sabres forward. The HSBC arena crowd grew silent as they saw Pominville lying on the ice for quite some time. Doctors took Pominville off on a stretcher.
Pominville didn’t go to the hospital until after the game. Here is a video of the hit:
The Sabres got out to a fast start, scoring two goals in less than three minutes. Drew Stafford earned his first of the season just 14 seconds into the game. Derek Roy scored his fourth of the season on backup goaltender Corey Crawford.
Buffalo native Patrick Kane scored on the power play to cut the Sabres lead in half. It was the first power play goal allowed by the Sabres this season.
The Blackhawks took a 3-2 lead late in the second period. Marian Hossa made it 4-2 when he got behind the Sabres defense after coming off the bench and beat Miller for the Blackhawks third unanswered goal.
Tim Connolly scored Buffalo’s third goal, narrowing the deficit to one. The Sabres were unable to tie the game at four, despite a power play within the last few minutes.
The Sabres fell to 1-2 on the season and the Blackhawks earned their first win.