That’s what the Sabres managed to do Saturday with a white-knuckle, less-than-pretty win over the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks outshot the Sabres 37-22 and had twice as many high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick, but Buffalo managed to grab an early 2-0 lead and hang on to win 4-2.

The Sabres jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead on goals from Tage Thompson and Beck Malenstyn, but they allowed the rebuilding Hawks to climb back into the game with a pair of Craig Smith tallies before JJ Peterka’s game-winner late in the middle frame.