Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov recorded a natural hat trick — all three goals coming consecutively in the third period — as the Lightning defeated the Buffalo Sabres 8-3 on Wednesday night in Buffalo.
The Sabres pulled within 4-3 just 33 seconds into the third period on a goal by Tage Thompson. Kucherov then scored twice in a 2-minute, 46-second span before completing the natural hat trick later in the period. He added an assist for a four-point night.
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Brandon Hagel scored twice. John Carlson tallied one goal and four assists. Scott Sabourin and Yanni Gourde each added a goal. Jake Guentzel recorded four assists, and Anthony Cirelli contributed three. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.
Josh Doan, Jason Zucker and Thompson scored for the Sabres. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped nine of 14 shots before being pulled; Colten Ellis made five saves on eight shots in relief.
The win marked Tampa Bay’s fourth victory in its last five games. Buffalo has lost three of its last four contests.
The Lightning play at Columbus on Thursday night. The Sabres travel to Chicago for their next game Thursday night.
More: NHL · Buffalo Sabres · Tampa Bay Lightning
