Alex Tuch and Zach Quinn scored 15 seconds apart to make the score 3-0. Then Connor Bedard fumbled the puck with less than a minute left in the first, which led to a final rush for the Sabres. Dylan Cozens made it 4-0. They were firing on all cylinders and cycling, which made the Blackhawks uncomfortable all period.

What a difference a win makes. The second sellout crowd of the season at KeyBank Center erupted into the wave and sang along in unison throughout a jubilant third period. And there wasn’t an inflatable palm tree or frown-faced paper bag in sight.

As a chilly mist hovered over Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon, construction workers moved boxes across a large graphic of ivy where the third-base line normally would be. Four days before a Tuesday afternoon puck drop for the NHL Winter Classic,

The conversion from baseball ballpark to hockey rink is taking shape for the NHL Winter Classic between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues.