BUFFALO http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/greg-joseph-jersey , N.Y. (AP) ¡ª Upon failing to reach the 900-point plateau in Chicago before the Blackhawks opened a three-game road trip, Patrick Kane couldn¡¯t think of a second-best place to do so than during his annual Buffalo homecoming.¡°You come here and you do it back at home with a lot of people here and a lot of people knowing that¡¯s the 900th, it¡¯s pretty exciting. It makes it even better,¡± Kane said. ¡°Yeah, it would¡¯ve been nice to get it before, but now that it happened here, you think it worked out for a reason.¡±The 30-year-old from south Buffalo put on a show by scoring two goals and two assists in blasting through the milestone during a 7-3 win over the Sabres on Friday night.Kane capped the win with an empty-net goal in upping his career total to 903 points . He became the youngest U.S.-born player to reach 900 points, and moved ahead of Tony Amonte for 12th place among Americans.Kane also extended his point streak to 10 games, in which he has combined for nine goals and 16 assists.Though he was unable to make a side trip to his favorite pizza place, Kane had time to meet with about 50 members of his family and friends in the southeast corner of the arena before the Blackhawks flew to Minnesota for their game against the Wild on Saturday night.¡°It would¡¯ve been nice to sneak it in,¡± Kane said, of popping in for a slice and wings. ¡°Just going to have to wait for the summer.¡±Connor Murphy sealed the victory by converting Kane¡¯s pass into the middle and snapping in a 30-footer through a screen to put Chicago up 5-3 with 8:36 remaining.Drake Caggiula had a goal and two assists, Brandon Saad scored twice and Duncan Keith also scored. Cam Ward stopped 40 shots and the Blackhawks avoided a brief scare before matching a season-best three-game win streak while coming off a nine-day break.Jason Pominville and Kyle Okposo scored goals 3:37 apart in cutting Chicago¡¯s lead to 4-3 with 12:44 left. Jack Eichel also scored in a game the Sabres trailed 3-0 through the first 26:06 and 4-1 through two periods.Carter Hutton was yanked after allowing four goals on 22 shots through 40 minutes. Linus Ullmark finished, stopping five of seven shots in the third period.This was not how the Sabres intended to open a seven-game homestand while playing their first game in Buffalo in nearly three weeks, following a five-game road trip which also spanned an 11-day break.¡°You can¡¯t win a game giving up seven goals,¡± Eichel said. ¡°I think the learning experiences are far over now. We¡¯re 50-some odd games into the season. ¡­ These mistakes are costing us points and that¡¯s points in the standings that we can¡¯t lose.¡±Buffalo dropped to 2-6 in its past eight and is 8-14-7 since matching a franchise-best 10-game winning streak in November.The Sabres failed to capitalize on numerous chances in the first period, and were outshooting the Blackhawks 14-6 before Caggiula scored with 1:22 left. Caggiula was set up alone in front by Gustav Forsling, who intercepted Sam Reinhart¡¯s weak breakout pass attempt at the left point.Jeff Skinner¡¯s turnover led to Erik Gustafsson setting up Kane for a breakaway goal 50 seconds into the second period. Keith Authentic Greg Joseph Jersey , with an assist from Kane, converted his own rebound to put Chicago up 3-0 a little over four minutes later to break open the game.The 30-year-old Kane reached the 30-goal mark for the fourth time in his 12-year career. And he continued his domination in Buffalo, where Kane has scored a point in each of his eight visits in combining for seven goals and six assists.¡°Obviously, nice to score on your first shift in the second to give you some confidence,¡± Kane said, acknowledging he¡¯s usually nervous before each game he plays in Buffalo.¡°I¡¯m really happy for him,¡± Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. ¡°It¡¯s hard to come back and play in your hometown. Sometimes you¡¯re pressing and it always doesn¡¯t work.¡±NOTES: Kane became just the third Blackhawks player with five career point streaks of 10 games or longer, joining Denis Savard, who did it 11 times, and Bobby Hull (five). ¡­ Saad played his 500th career game. ¡­ Okposo scored on the power play, Buffalo¡¯s first goal with the man advantage in seven games. The Sabres converted 1 of 3 power-play chances to improve their anemic production to 10 of 74 over their past27 games.UP NEXTBlackhawks: At Minnesota Wild on Saturday.Sabres: Enter three-day break before hosting Wild on Tuesday night. The bruises on Travis Konecny¡¯s legs are marks of Metropolitan Division hockey.In the third period of a crucial late-season divisional game, the undersized Philadelphia Flyers forward got in the way of not one but two slap shots from Washington Capitals defensemen. The two points from the victory made it all feel better.¡±It¡¯s that time of year when those shots are crucial to make sure they¡¯re not getting to your goaltender,¡± Konecny said. ¡±I have a feeling that¡¯s the way the body is going to feel from here on out.¡±Konecny¡¯s not the only one feeling it down the stretch in a division where the top five teams are separated by just nine points with two and a half weeks remaining in the season ¨C and they could all make the playoffs.Washington, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Columbus and New Jersey play six more games against each other down the stretch, too. A postseason with Metropolitan first- and second-round series is sure to bring knock-down, drag-out showdowns with not much separating these teams.¡±It kind of depends on the timing of when you play each other Myles Garrett Jersey Elite ,¡± Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald said. ¡±Obviously you want to finish strong and have a good finish to the season.¡±With the Florida Panthers 11-2-1 in their past 14 games, all the contending Metro teams save for the Capitals and Penguins can¡¯t even feel safe. It¡¯s why Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux said, ¡±Right now we¡¯re just trying to get into the playoffs.¡±That kind of desperation has paid off for the streaking Blue Jackets, who have won nine in a row to solidify themselves. Five of those victories have come against teams currently in playoff position.¡±It¡¯s great preparation,¡± Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. ¡±Every game¡¯s like a playoff game for us.¡±Teams can lose three of seven playoff games and stay alive. That might not be the case the rest of the regular season for the Blue Jackets, Devils and Flyers, and it¡¯s no sure bet the Capitals win the division for the third consecutive year.Beating the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night as the Penguins fell flat in a loss to the New York Islanders could wind up making a big difference.¡±These are big points now,¡± Capitals defenseman John Carlson said. ¡±Everyone can see how tight the race is and everybody kind of jockeying for position. You¡¯ve got to collect them when you can.A far cry from winning the Metro by seven points last year and by 16 in 2015-16, the Capitals are playing meaningful games in March and April, something that could help them in the playoffs after three consecutive second-round exits.¡±I hope so,¡± fourth-year coach Barry Trotz said. ¡±It¡¯s going to help not only us, it¡¯s going to help Philly, it¡¯s going to help all the teams who are in that when you have to play at that level.¡±The second half of the season was loaded up with divisional games. That means whoever wins the Atlantic between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins will potentially face a battle-tested Metropolitan team. And for the Metropolitan first-, second- and third-place teams, familiarity breeds contemptuous playoff hockey.¡±When you have meaningful games down the stretch, that¡¯s usually a good stepping stone into playoffs,¡± MacDonald said. ¡±The intensity ramps up and the importance of each game, each shift and each play gets further under the microscope Authentic Myles Garrett Jersey , it makes it that much better for us to be able to be in these situations to be able to adapt to it.¡±JONES-INGColumbus is a serious playoff threat in large part because of Seth Jones¡® development into a do-it-all No. 1 defenseman at age 23. Jones leads the Blue Jackets in ice time at 24:47 per night and is second on the team with 35 assists and 49 points.¡±He¡¯s elite among the NHL defensemen the way he can join the rush, the way he can skate the puck out of the zone,¡± said Kekalainen, who acquired Jones from Nashville for Ryan Johansen two years ago. ¡±I think his transition game¡¯s gotten quicker. I think he¡¯s assumed a lot more power-play responsibility this year.¡±DONATO TIMEWhen Ryan Donato was leading the United States in goals and points at the Olympics, dad, former NHL forward and Harvard coach Ted didn¡¯t want to say when the 21-year-old forward would make the jump to the NHL. Turns out it was as soon as Harvard¡¯s season ended as the Bruins signed Donato on Sunday, plugged him in on the second line Monday and watched him record his first goal and assist.¡±We have some injuries, we¡¯re at the point in the season where every game has a lot on the line and I think his being able to go over and have success at the Olympics this year really started to jumpstart his thought process that he was ready for the next challenge,¡± Bruins GM Don Sweeney said. ¡±I think that sort of gave Ryan a glimpse of what he was capable of doing, albeit he knows that the challenge will be that much greater at the National Hockey League level and certainly coming down the stretch.¡±DID YOU KNOW?Ottawa defenseman Patrick Sieloff is the first player in NHL history to score a goal in each of his first two career games while playing for different teams. His first goal was April 9, 2016 with Calgary and his second came Tuesday against Florida.GAME OF THE WEEKThe NHL-leading Nashville Predators visit the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday night for their final meeting before what could be a preview of a Central Division second-round series. Runners-up: Kings at Colorado and Vegas at San Jose on Thursday; New Jersey at Pittsburgh, Friday.LEADERS (through Tuesday)Goals: Alex Ovechkin (Washington) 44; Assists: Blake Wheeler (Winnipeg), 62; Points: Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay), 94; Wins: Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay), 41; Goals-against average (min. 40 games played): Marc-Andre Fleury (Vegas): 2.18; Save percentage (min. 40 games played): Pekka Rinne (Nashville), 0.931.¡ª