BUFFALO, N.Y. _ The reason for never giving up on a season was right before the Blackhawks' eyes Friday night.
It came in the form of Jack Eichel, Rasmus Ristolainen, Casey Mittlestadt, Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Dahlin.
Since 2013, the Sabres selected those five players among the first eight picks in the NHL draft, with Eichel and Reinhart going at No. 2 and last year Dahlin at No. 1.
It hasn't mattered. At least not yet. The Sabres haven't made the playoffs since 2011 and are on the outside of the postseason picture looking in this season.
Other factors are at play when dissecting why the Sabres haven't succeeded despite their lofty draft picks, all of whom have developed into good if not great players. But the fact is the draft doesn't guarantee future success, and every season needs to be treated as one full of possibilities until all have been exhausted.
After a 10-day break, the Hawks still see possibilities.
They resumed their season Friday with a 7-3 victory over the Sabres that they hope will propel them back into the playoff race.
Coach Jeremy Colliton was excited to return after the long layoff, which came after consecutive wins over the Capitals and Islanders.
"Yeah, it is exciting," Colliton said. "We finished on a good note and we just want to keep it going. ... Obviously, the trend is for it to be tough coming off so many days off, but we want to break the trend."
The undesired trend held true during the first period despite the Hawks taking a 1-0 lead on Drake Caggiula's first goal since being acquired from the Oilers. The Sabres controlled much of the play and held a big advantage in scoring chances while outshooting the Hawks 14-7.
Taking the early lead seemed to buoy the Hawks, who found their legs in the second. Patrick Kane scored on a breakaway 50 seconds into the period after taking a perfect pass from Erik Gustafsson, and a few minutes later Duncan Keith put back his own rebound to make it 3-0.
Kane's goal gave him a 10-game point streak, was the 900th point of his career and gave the Buffalo native at least one point in each of his eight career games in his hometown. He added two assists and an empty-net goal _ his 31st of the season _ to give him 15 points in his last five games.
"It's always special coming back to play in Buffalo," Kane said. "And since it's only a once-a-year thing it makes it even more special."
After Eichel's goal late in the second seemed to give the Sabres life, Brandon Saad finished off a 2-on-1 with David Kampf with 20.6 seconds remaining for his 16th of the season to restore the Hawks' 3-goal advantage.
The Sabres scored a pair of third-period goals to pull within one, but Connor Murphy answered with a blistering wrist shot to make it 5-3 with 8:36 remaining. After Kane's second goal, Saad scored his second with 38 seconds left.
Cam Ward, who finished with 40 saves, was brilliant in the third, stopping Jeff Skinner twice in one sequence to prevent a tie.
