Alex Tuch’s third career hat trick helped the Buffalo Sabres secure a 6-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
Jack Quinn and Dylan Cozens each contributed a goal and an assist, Rasmus Dahlin added two assists, and Zach Benson scored for Buffalo. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 15 saves on 17 shots to earn his 10th win in 25 starts this season.
After a tough 13-game winless streak (0-10-3), the Sabres have bounced back, outscoring opponents 13-3 in their last two wins.
Tyler Bertuzzi and Seth Jones scored for the Blackhawks, who have lost three straight. Chicago is 1-10-1 in its last 12 road games.
Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek gave up four goals on 11 shots and was replaced by Arvid Soderblom, who saved 22 of 24 shots in the final two periods.
Buffalo scored four goals in the first period, starting with Benson’s tip-in goal at 9:51. Tuch added another tip-in at 12:23, and Quinn scored just 15 seconds later.
This was Buffalo’s second-fastest pair of goals this season, with Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka scoring 11 seconds apart in a 5-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 3.
A turnover by Connor Bedard led to another Sabres goal 42 seconds before the first intermission. Quinn grabbed the puck and passed it to Cozens, who finished it off to make it 4-0.
Bertuzzi scored the Blackhawks’ first goal in the second period. Jones added another for Chicago at 3:06 of the third, with an assist from Pat Maroon’s fake shot.
Just as the Blackhawks started gaining momentum, Tuch scored again at 5:48 of the third, beating Soderblom with a low-angle shot.
Tuch completed his hat trick at 15:06 of the final frame. He stole the puck from Alex Vlasic at the Sabres’ blue line, raced into the Chicago zone, and scored on a breakaway.
