Nikita Kucherov scored three goals in the third period to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to an 8-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Wednesday. Buffalo rallied from a four-goal deficit to get within one early in the final frame before Kucherov answered with a natural hat trick to secure the win.
Tampa Bay opened the scoring late in the first period when Scott Sabourin scored his first goal of the season on a snap shot at 18:49. John Carlson doubled the advantage on the power play 49 seconds later at 19:38. Brandon Hagel extended the lead to 3-0 at 4:33 of the second period, and Yanni Gourde collected his first goal of the season at 13:02 to make it 4-0.
The Sabres responded with three consecutive tallies to tighten the game. Josh Doan tipped in a power-play goal at 15:54 of the second period, and Jason Zucker followed with an even-strength snap shot at 19:32. Tage Thompson made it 4-3 just 33 seconds into the third period with a slap shot.
Kucherov halted Buffalo's momentum 52 seconds later, scoring on a backhand at 1:25 of the third period. He added a slap-shot goal at 4:11 and finished his hat trick on the power play at 14:13. Hagel completed the scoring with his second goal of the night at 15:06 off a pass from Kucherov. Carlson finished with a goal and four assists, while Jake Guentzel contributed four assists.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 of 31 shots to earn the victory in net for Tampa Bay. Buffalo started Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who took the loss after allowing five goals on 14 shots. Colten Ellis entered in relief and made five saves on eight shots. The Lightning converted 2 of 4 power-play opportunities, while the Sabres scored on 1 of 3 man advantages.
The win brought Tampa Bay's record to 12-4-2 on the season. Buffalo dropped to 8-7-3 and extended its winless skid to two games.
Both teams return to the ice on Thursday. The Lightning visit the Columbus Blue Jackets, while the Sabres travel to face the Chicago Blackhawks.
