PREVIEW: Blackhawks Wrap Season-Opening Road Trip Against Sabres

🕒 TIME: 6:00 p.m.
📺 IN-MARKET TV: CHSN
🌎 OUT-OF-MARKET TV: ESPN+
🎙 RADIO: WGN-720-AM | Blackhawks App

More information on how to watch Blackhawks games this season can be found at Blackhawks.com/HowtoWatch.

QUICK HITS

• Chicago closes out its season-opening road trip with a battle against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at KeyBank Center.
• Forward Jordan Greenway and defenseman Bowen Byram will play their first game against Buffalo on Saturday night since being acquired from the club on June 23, 2026.
• Goaltender Arvid Soderblom needs just one save to reach 3,000 for his career, all in a Blackhawks sweater.
• Defenseman Wyatt Kaiser leads the team with four blocks through the team’s first two contests.

AGAINST THE SABRES

• The Blackhawks close out a three-game road trip to open the season with a Saturday-night matchup against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. This is the first of two meetings this season, with the next coming at United Center on Nov. 12.
• Chicago has 58 wins all-time against the Sabres, 20 of which have come in road meetings. 
• Over their last 25 games against Buffalo, the Blackhawks have gone 15-8-2. 
• Forward Patrick Kane enters Saturday’s tilt riding a three-game point streak against the Sabres (4G, 4A), including a five-point (2G, 3A) outburst on March 12, 2025. The Buffalo, N.Y. native has 17 points (9G, 8A) in 16 career trips to KeyBank Center.
• Over his last 20 game against the Sabres, Teuvo Teravainen has scored 23 points (7G, 16A). In his last eight games at KeyBank Center, the Finnish forward has posted nine points (3G, 6A).
• Tyler Bertuzzi has eight goals in his last 10 trips to KeyBank Center, including a trio of markers over his last two visits.
• Ryan Greene netted his first career shorthanded goal against Buffalo on April 13, 2026.
• Defenseman Sam Rinzel posted two assists in Chicago’s lone trip to KeyBank Center last season.
• One of defenseman Alex Vlasic’s two goals in the 2025-26 season came at Buffalo on Nov. 21, 2025. 
• In four starts at KeyBank Center, goaltender Spencer Knight has registered a 3-1-0 record to go along with a .902 save percentage.

ROMAN EMPIRE

Rookie forward Roman Kantserov made his NHL debut on Tuesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. The native of Magnitogorsk, Russia tied for the team lead in hits (3) and won five draws in his debut. During the 2025-26 campaign, Kantserov led the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with 36 goals, finishing the season with 64 points (36G, 28A) in 63 games with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. His 36 goals and 64 points are the most recorded in a single season by a player under the age of 22 in league history. He also notched eight points (4G, 4A) in 15 postseason games and represented Magnitogorsk at the 2026 KHL All-Star Game.

BLOCK PARTY

For the fourth time in the last five seasons, Chicago has opened the year with back-to-back double-digit block games. The Blackhawks blocked 11 shots on Thursday at Delta Center. Jordan Greenway and Wyatt Kaiser paced the team with two blocks each. Chicago finished Tuesday's contest at Vegas with 10 blocked shots, including two each from Bowen Byram, Kaiser and Sam Rinzel. The Blackhawks were one of just three teams in Tuesday's opening-night slate to have all dressed defensemen record at least one blocked shot. Chicago blocked 1,020 shots in 2025-26, spearheaded by Alex Vlasic's 119.

SOME MOORE OF THAT

The Blackhawks signed Oliver Moore to a five-year contract extension ($4.25 million salary cap hit) on Sept. 24. The contract will begin in the 2027-28 season and will run through the 2031-32 campaign. Moore set career highs in games played (51), goals (5), assists (14) and points (19) last season, ranking third among club rookies in each category in 2025-26. The forward scored his first career NHL goal last season on Nov. 9, 2025 in Detroit against the Red Wings. The 5-foot-11, 192-pound forward has compiled 23 points (5G, 18A) in 62 career NHL regular-season games.