By: Brayden Peters
BUFFALO, N.Y. - It rained hats at Key Bank Center twice as the Buffalo Sabres crushed the Boston Bruins 7-2 on Tuesday. Thanks to hat tricks from forwards and linemates Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka, it was the first time since Jan. 18, 2008 that the Sabres had two players record hat tricks in the same game. Forwards Derek Roy and Drew Stafford were the ones to record hat tricks in 2008 as Buffalo beat the Atlanta Thrashers 10-1.
"I think it's the chemistry of that line," Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said. "They had one heck of a night. Not many times you can have a line where you end up with two guys with hat tricks on the same line."
Thompson was shifted over from center to right wing for the game. He entered the season primarily playing at the center position.
"When I was looking at what he was generating and now what he is generating playing the wing and letting Kuli [Jiří Kulich] do the work, it only makes sense just to leave him there," Ruff said. "And the fact he got three tonight should help me talk him into it too."
Both Thompson and Peterka finished with four points after adding assists onto their hat tricks. Thompson's hat trick is the seventh of his career. With his now 25 goals on the season, he is tied for the seventh most goals in the league. He has also scored six times in the last five games after the win over the Bruins. Thompson and Peterka have set season highs with goals in a game after last night. Forward Dylan Cozens was the only other Sabre to have a multi-point game as he picked up two assists.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen got the start between the pipes for Buffalo. He recorded 25 saves on 27 shots on goal for a .925 save percentage.
Both teams showed promise on the forecheck to start the first period, which led to multiple scoring chances. Halfway through the frame, the Sabres had a six-to-four advantage in the shots on goal department.
The Bruins, though, drew first blood with 7:16 left in the period. Defenseman Mason Lohrei deked to his left to force left winger Zach Benson to over pursue. Lohrei found open space in the high slot and fired a wrist shot that deflected off of Luukkonen's glove and into the net.
Buffalo responded less than a minute later. The Sabres drove into the o-zone with tic-tac-toe passing. Forward Dylan Cozens set up Thomspon for a one-timer slap shot, and he buried the 102.3 mph shot into the bottom left corner of the net. Forward Ryan McLeod and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson were credited with assists on the goal.
The Sabres continued to stay aggressive on offense and not allow Boston to cut to the low slot for the rest of the frame. The score remained tied 1-1 as the buzzer sounded with Buffalo outshooting the Bruins 10-to-five.
Boston came out of the gates in the second period aggressive. They continued to be effective on the forecheck and generated multiple scoring opportunities. Five minutes into the frame they were outshooting the Sabres five-to-two. Buffalo's second shot on goal of the period resulted in Thompson's second goal of the game.
As the Sabres drove up the ice, more tic-tac-toe passing set up Thompson back door and he found the middle of the net on a wrist shot with 15:17 left in the period. Cozens and Peterka were given assists on the goal.
Buffalo added cushioning to their lead to give them a 3-1 advantage less than two minutes later. Peterka drove up the left wing into the offensive zone and rifled a wrist shot past goalie Jeremy Swayman into the top right corner of the cage. Defenseman Owen Power and Thompson recorded assists on the goal.
Boston couldn't tack on a goal before the end of the frame, even though they outshot Buffalo 14-to-nine in the period.
The aggressiveness from both teams was not fully present to start the third period. The Sabres got back to their scoring ways with 16:47 left in the frame. Thompson drove down the right wing and pumped the breaks to get Bruins defenseman and former Sabres 2013 first round pick Nikita Zadorov out of position. Thompson did a quick head fake and fired a wrist shot between the legs of Zadorov and into the top right corner of the net. Defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Bowen Byram picked up assists on the goal.
Dahlin's assist put him one assist away from tying Mike Ramsey for the second-most assists (256) by a Sabres defenseman in team history.
Even though Boston had limited energy and Buffalo was more aggressive on offense, the Bruins snuck away with another goal. Just under 10 minutes in the final frame, forward Brad Marchand put away a one-timer wrist shot from the low slot on the power play to cut the lead to 4-2.
30 seconds later, Peterka split two defensemen and beat Swayman on a wrist shot low blocker side. Kulich was given an assist for the goal.
It was all Sabres after Peterka's second goal as he picked up the hat trick on an empty netter with 5:34 left.
The Bruins had a two-on-zero chance with 4:14 left as they looked for their third goal of the game. However, forward Vinni Lettieri's one-timer wrist shot was robbed on a windmill glove save from Luukkonen.
"I was even clapping on that one," Ruff said. "I think you can get fuel or momentum off of a big save...the save he made...bunch of guys were up on the bench."
With 12.1 seconds in the game while on the power play, Buffalo put the nail in the coffin. Benson deflected forward Jack Quinn's snap shot into the top shelf. Both Quinn and Cozens were given assists.
The Sabres improved to 19-26-5 with the win yet are still in last place in the Atlantic. As for Boston, they dropped to 25-21-6 and are fourth in the division.
The Sabres will continue their home stretch when they host the Nashville Predators on Friday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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