Jiri Kulich scored the go-ahead goal with 6:40 left in the third period Saturday night, and the Buffalo Sabres rallied for a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in their home opener at KeyBank Center. It was the first goal in nearly a year for the 22-year-old center, who missed the final 70 games of last season with blood clot issues, The Associated Press reported on ESPN.
How Jiri Kulich won it
Kulich took a feed from Owen Power and beat Chicago goalie Spencer Knight from the left of the net. He had missed the net on a close-range chance earlier in the sequence. Tage Thompson started the play by winning the puck behind the Blackhawks’ net and passing it out to Power.
Rasmus Dahlin had tied the game at 3-3 at 6:10 of the third with a snap shot. Peyton Krebs and Mattias Samuelsson picked up the assists.
The comeback
Chicago led 2-0 early. Ryan Donato scored at 7:59 of the first period and Tyler Bertuzzi added a goal at 11:24. Jack Quinn cut the gap to 2-1 late in the first, and Thompson tipped in the tying goal at 5:41 of the second. Oliver Moore put Chicago back in front 3-2 with 1:42 left in the period.
Buffalo outshot Chicago 28-15 and out-hit the Blackhawks 29-18. Neither team scored on the power play: the Sabres went 0 for 3 and Chicago 0 for 2. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 12 of 15 shots. Knight made 24 saves on 28.
A long road back for Jiri Kulich
Jiri Kulich last played on Nov. 1, 2025, according to NHL.com. The league site reported that he had a three-hour procedure at the Mayo Clinic in March to remove the clot and that he came into training camp healthy. He scored 15 goals as a rookie in 2024-25.
He was back in the lineup for the season opener at Columbus, where he played 8:45 in a 6-3 loss. We covered that game in our recap of the Blue Jackets’ 6-3 win over the Sabres. The home opener gave Jiri Kulich his first goal back.
What it means
Buffalo has won seven straight against Chicago and is 10-0-1 against the Blackhawks since a 4-1 loss on Nov. 17, 2019. The Sabres are 1-1-0. Chicago fell to 0-3-0 after earlier road losses at Vegas and Utah, and it played without defenseman Bowen Byram, who was dealing with a family matter. Our look at Byram’s absence covers what it means for the Blackhawks.
Buffalo hosts Minnesota on Tuesday night. Chicago opens at home against St. Louis the same evening.
