The Buffalo Sabres cut a four-goal deficit to one before Nikita Kucherov scored a third-period hat trick, sending the Tampa Bay Lightning to an 8-3 victory Wednesday at KeyBank Center.
Josh Doan, Jason Zucker and Tage Thompson scored for Buffalo, which pulled within 4-3 just 33 seconds into the third period. Tampa Bay answered with four consecutive goals despite being outshot 31-22, according to the NHL’s official final report.
Watch: Thompson brings Buffalo within one
https://nhl.com/video/tbl-buf-thompson-scores-goal-against-andrei-vasilevskiy-6408263295112
The NHL’s individual-goal highlight shows Thompson’s goal 33 seconds into the third period, which narrowed Tampa Bay’s lead to 4-3.
Two late goals put Tampa Bay ahead
The Lightning broke a scoreless tie with two goals in the final 1:11 of the first period. Scott Sabourin opened the scoring at 18:49, with Conor Geekie and Jake Guentzel assisting.
John Carlson made it 2-0 on the power play at 19:38, 16 seconds after Buffalo’s Doan received a delay-of-game penalty for sending the puck over the glass. Guentzel and Charle-Edouard D’Astous assisted on Carlson’s goal.
Brandon Hagel extended the lead at 4:33 of the second period, and Yanni Gourde made it 4-0 at 13:02. Guentzel collected his third assist on Gourde’s goal, while rookie Sam O’Reilly also earned an assist.
Sabres rally across the second intermission
Doan started Buffalo’s comeback with a power-play goal at 15:54 of the second period, tipping in a shot with assists credited to Ryan McLeod and Josh Norris.
Zucker scored with 28 seconds remaining in the period to cut the deficit to 4-2. Noah Östlund and Jack Quinn assisted, giving the Sabres two consecutive goals before the intermission.
Thompson then scored his 11th goal of the season on a slap shot at 0:33 of the third. Peyton Krebs and Mattias Samuelsson earned the assists as Buffalo closed within one.
Kucherov takes over in the third
The one-goal margin lasted 52 seconds. Kucherov scored at 1:25 of the third period, with Hagel and Carlson assisting, to restore a two-goal Tampa Bay lead.
Kucherov struck again at 4:11 and completed his hat trick on the power play at 14:13. His third goal came after Quinn was penalized for interference at 13:18.
Hagel added his second goal of the night at 15:06, assisted by Kucherov and Anthony Cirelli, to finish the scoring.
Kucherov ended with three goals and an assist. Carlson had a goal and four assists, and Guentzel finished with four assists. The NHL selected those three Lightning players as the game’s three stars.
Final numbers and lineup context
Buffalo finished with 31 shots on goal to Tampa Bay’s 22. The Lightning scored twice on the power play, while Doan supplied the Sabres’ power-play goal.
The official scoring events list Tampa Bay’s first five goals against Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and its final three against Colten Ellis. Buffalo’s three goals came against Andrei Vasilevskiy.
McLeod’s assist came in his return after two games as a healthy scratch. The Sabres’ pregame report had identified his return and explained that Tuesday’s practice suggested Luukkonen would start.
The game concluded Buffalo’s homestand and was Military Appreciation Night at KeyBank Center. It was the teams’ first meeting this season after Buffalo went 3-0-1 against Tampa Bay last season, including an 8-7 victory in March.
Defensive mistakes undo Buffalo’s comeback
In Jane McNally’s postgame report for Sabres.com, Thompson and coach Lindy Ruff pointed to Buffalo’s defensive decisions and the odd-man rushes they created. Thompson said the Sabres generated offensive-zone possession and scoring chances but gave Tampa Bay too many free opportunities.
“We have to look ourselves in the mirror after this one,” Rasmus Dahlin said in the Sabres.com report. “I know we can play really good hockey. We’ve proven that, but we have to do it consistently. Today was not good.”
Ruff said Buffalo needed more patience late in the first period, when a defenseman joined the attack and helped leave the Sabres vulnerable to an odd-man rush. He also warned against allowing frustration over missed scoring chances to affect the team’s decisions elsewhere on the ice.
The source report described Sabourin as an unmarked trailing forward on the opening goal and identified an offensive-zone turnover as the start of the 2-on-1 that produced Gourde’s goal. After Buffalo’s rally, its defensemen were caught up ice on Kucherov’s breakaway for the 5-3 goal.
Doan said Buffalo committed too many players below Kucherov on that play. His own second-period goal had followed a Ruff timeout, helping bring the crowd back into the game before Tampa Bay took control again.
Ruff explains the goaltending change
According to the Sabres.com recap, Luukkonen allowed five goals on 14 shots before Ruff replaced him after Kucherov’s breakaway. Ellis allowed three goals on eight shots in 18:32.
Ruff said the change was an attempt to give Buffalo a spark, while stressing that responsibility extended beyond the starting goalie. He said the group as a whole had not played well enough.
Buffalo heads to Chicago
The Sabres next visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, Nov. 12, at United Center. Faceoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern, with MSG-B carrying Buffalo’s broadcast, according to the supplied official NHL schedule and matchup information.
The loss left Buffalo 1-3-0 on its four-game homestand after collecting seven of eight possible points on its preceding road trip, according to Sabres.com. The next trip spans six games in 11 days.
Dahlin said he welcomed the opportunity to play again immediately and improve on Wednesday’s performance. Thompson said the quick turnaround left little time to dwell on the loss and emphasized moving forward.
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