Kucherov's hat trick lifts Lightning past Sabres 8-3
Tampa Bay scores four times in the third period in Buffalo
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Buffalo Sabres 8-3 at KeyBank Center on Wednesday night, according to the official NHL game summary.
Nikita Kucherov scored three goals, all in the third period, and added an assist for four points. John Carlson had a goal and four assists, and Jake Guentzel had four assists. Brandon Hagel scored twice, and Scott Sabourin and Yanni Gourde each scored once.
Tampa Bay led 4-0 before Buffalo's Josh Doan and Jason Zucker scored in the second period and Tage Thompson early in the third to make it 4-3. Kucherov then scored at 1:25 and 4:11 of the third, and Hagel and Kucherov added goals later in the period. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 of 31 shots, and Buffalo outshot the Lightning 31-22, according to the box score.
The Lightning play next at Columbus on Thursday at 7 p.m., according to the team schedule.