At the Horn | Sabres 6 - Kraken 2

Jeff Skinner recorded a hat trick while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 32 saves to lead the Buffalo Sabres in a 6-2 win over the Seattle Kraken inside Climate Pledge Arena on Monday to open a back-to-back set.

Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, and Owen Power also scored for the Sabres, who led 2-1 3:56 into the game and never relinquished their lead. Zemgus Girgensons added two assists in the victory.

Jordan Eberle and Matty Beniers tallied goals for the Kraken. Joey Daccord stopped one of four shots in the first period before Philipp Grubauer entered in relief, stopping 23 of 26 shots in 41:29 of action.

The Sabres have now won four of their last five games and moved within four points of the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

SCORING SUMMARY

Period 1, 0:24 – Jordan Eberle from Eeli Tolvanen and Brian Dumoulin (1-0, SEA)

The Kraken opened the scoring on the first shot of the game after Dumoulin found Tolvanen in the right circle. Tolvanen fed Eberle in the slot for a quick shot that beat Luukkonen on his blocker side to give Seattle an early 1-0 lead 24 seconds into the game.

Period 1, 0:49 – Tage Thompson from Zemgus Girgensons and Alex Tuch (1-1)

Despite finding themselves down early, the Sabres had an immediate answer as Thompson buried a shot from the right circle 25 seconds later to tie the score at 1-1 on Buffalo’s first shot of the night.

Period 1, 3:56 – Jeff Skinner from Peyton Krebs (2-1, BUF)

The Sabres took the lead just over three minutes later after Skinner and Krebs forced a turnover in the defensive zone. Krebs sent a pass down ice to Skinner, who wristed a shot from above the left faceoff dot to beat Daccord short side.

Period 1, 5:41 – Alex Tuch from Tage Thompson (3-1, BUF)

Tuch extended the lead to 3-1 with his 19th goal of the season at the 5:41 mark. Buffalo forced another turnover in its own zone before Thompson fed Tuch in the high slot. Tuch fired a shot blocker side to score on the Sabres’ fourth shot of the day and force the Kraken to make a goalie change.

Period 1, 14:36 (PP) – Matty Beniers from Eeli Tolvanen and Justin Schultz (3-2, BUF)

After Krebs was assessed a double-minor penalty for high-sticking, Seattle scored on the ensuing power play. Tolvanen ripped a one-timer from above the right circle, which was blocked by Connor Clifton. The deflection bounced off of Beniers and hit the post before he tipped the puck into net to bring the Kraken within one.

Period 2, 10:36 – Owen Power from Dylan Cozens and JJ Peterka (4-2, BUF)

The Sabres made it 4-2 midway through the second period when Peterka let a shot go from the point that Cozens tipped off the post. Power crashed the net and buried the rebound short side.

Period 2, 11:18 – Jeff Skinner, unassisted (5-2, BUF)

Skinner extended the lead less than a minute later, scoring his second of the night to put the Sabres up 5-2. He skated the puck into the slot and beat Grubauer with Greenway setting a screen in front of the net.

Period 3, 18:01 – Jeff Skinner from Jordan Greenway and Jacob Bryson (6-2, BUF)

Skinner completed the hat trick with 1:59 remaining after Bryson tipped the puck to Greenway, who passed to Skinner for a one-timer from the slot.

POSTGAME COMMENTS

UP NEXT

The Sabres close out the back-to-back set Tuesday in Vancouver.

Pregame coverage on MSG/MSG+ begins at 9:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 10. Radio coverage can be found on WGR 550.