BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Buffalo's scoring drought had crossed the line from frustration to embarrassment. "This isn't rugby," a fan behind the Buffalo bench screamed.

Miroslav Satan and Maxim Afinogenov got the message and scored in the third period to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 Friday night.

	Chicago goalie Steve Passmore makes a stop on Maxim Afinogenov Friday. The Sabres rookie later burned Passmore for the winning goal.

"I was getting a little irritated myself," said Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff, whose team won for the first time in 14 games when it trailed after two periods (1-12-1).

Satan broke one of Buffalo's longest scoring droughts early in the third period and rookie Afinogenov added the game-winner.

Afinogenov collected a cross-ice pass from Dixon Ward and one-timed the puck past goaltender Steve Passmore at 8:04.

The Blackhawks snapped a long scoreless streak of their own with wing Blair Atcheynum's goal at 13:11 of the first.

The 1-0 lead lasted until Satan broke one of Buffalo's longest scoreless streaks in team history with his goal 34 seconds into the third.

The goal ended the Sabres' drought at 162 minutes, 29 seconds. Buffalo's longest scoreless streak was 183 minutes, 54 seconds and started with the expansion team's first game Oct. 10, 1970, lasting until Oct. 17.

"You're trying to score and for some reason the puck doesn't go in the net," Satan said. "You just keep working until you do it."

Satan scored his 13th goal with an assist from Curtis Brown and Michal Grosek, threading the puck through the slot and shoveling in the backhander to tie the game at 1.

The Sabres were winless in their previous five games and had won just one of seven, in which they had scored only nine goals. They skated to a 0-0 tie with Ottawa in their third straight overtime game Wednesday.

The Blackhawks are 2-3-0 since coach Bob Pulford, also the club's senior vice president, assumed the two jobs after Bob Murray was fired as GM and Lorne Molleken was demoted from head to associate coach.

Pulford let Molleken do the talking after the Blackhawks' second straight loss, after a 5-1 home loss to New Jersey.

"We played two good teams," Molleken said. "New Jersey outplayed us and Buffalo played extremely well. Passmore gave us an opportunity to win, but we shot ourselves in the foot."

Passmore, who won his first NHL game at Buffalo last March, made 27 saves and then tossed a cup full of water on the locker room floor in disgust. "We had them 1-0 going into the third," Passmore said. "We can't afford to lose games like that."

Buffalo rookie goaltender Martin Biron made 20 saves.

Buffalo gift-wrapped Chicago's goal when Biron and Sabres wing Geoff Sanderson tangled in front of the net and Atcheynum's centering pass deflected in off Sanderson's skate.

"Geoff thought I was going to cover it for him, and he was starting to take off," said Biron (10-6-1). "It was one of those plays where you both just kind of look at each other."

It was Chicago's first goal in 88 minutes, 25 seconds of play; the Blackhawks were shut out in their last game by the New Jersey Devils.

Three of Atcheynum's 25 career goals have come against the Sabres, including a game-winner with Nashville last year.

Biron kept it close by stopping a breakaway by Steve Sullivan with the Blackhawks shorthanded with six minutes in the first.

"He was standing at the top of the crease," Sullivan said. "Usually when he's that far in, he's getting ready to back in with you. I tried to slow down and he stabbed it with his stick."

Biron was tough, but lucky, too. Bob Probert fanned on a two-on-break with Doug Gilmour, and Michael Nylander hit the post for Chicago with 1:40 to play.