At the Horn | Sabres 6 - Blackhawks 2

Alex Tuch scored a hat trick to help lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 6-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at KeyBank Center on Friday.

The Sabres jumped out to an early lead with four goals during the first period, including Tuch’s first of the night. Rasmus Dahlin (0+2), Jack Quinn (1+1), and Dylan Cozens (1+1) also had multiple points in the period.

Tuch added two third-period goals to complete Buffalo’s first hat trick of the season. The Sabres have now scored a combined 13 goals in their last two games, coming on the heels of a 7-1 win over the New York Islanders on Dec. 23.

Zach Benson also scored for the second straight contest while JJ Peterka had an assist to extend his point streak to a career-best six games. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 15 saves for his second straight victory.

Tyler Bertuzzi and Seth Jones scored goals for the Blackhawks. Petr Mrazek stopped five of 11 shots during the first period before giving way to Arvid Soderblom, who made 22 saves on 24 shots faced.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Period

The Sabres outshot the Blackhawks 11-2 and exploded to a 4-0 lead, fueled by two points each from Dahlin (0+2), Quinn (1+1), and Cozens (1+1).

Dahlin ignited the run 9:51 into the contest when he sent a saucer pass from the right side of the offensive blue line directly to Benson for a backdoor tap-in.

The Sabres’ next two goals came 15 seconds apart from Tuch and Quinn. Dahlin initiated the sequence leading to Quinn’s goal, receiving the puck under pressure at the point but maintaining possession as he drifted toward the right circle. The Sabres captain passed across to set up a one-timer from Thompson, which was deflected by Tuch.

Quinn’s goal was the result of a neutral-zone play by Cozens to break up an attempted stretch pass from Blackhawks defenseman TJ Brodie. Cozens then received the puck upon entry into the offensive zone and passed across to Quinn, who buried a one-timer from the inside part of the left circle.

Quinn returned the favor and set up Cozens’ goal with 42 seconds remaining. Connor Bedard fumbled a pass from Bertuzzi inside the Buffalo blue line, allowing Quinn to lead a 4-on-2 rush. Quinn dropped a pass back to Cozens, who scored from atop the left circle.

Second Period

The Sabres once again held the edge in shots – this time by a margin of 12-8 – but Bertuzzi scored to put the Blackhawks on the board with 3:21 remaining.

Luukkonen stopped a one-timer from Bedard on the shift following Bertuzzi’s goal to carry the 4-1 lead into the second intermission.

Third Period

The Blackhawks threatened to come back after Jones scored 3:06 into the period, which was followed 18 seconds later by a tripping penalty against Tuch.

The Sabres killed the penalty – aided by a shot block from Mattias Samuelsson on a Teuvo Teravainen one-timer – and Tuch received the puck as he exited the box. Tuch skated into offensive zone 1-on-2, drifted wide to the right side, and saw his wrist shot from distance leak between Soderblom’s pads.

Tuch completed the hat trick with 4:54 remaining, stealing the puck from defenseman Alex Vlasic at the Buffalo blue line and beating Soderblom to his blocker side on the breakaway.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

POSTGAME SOUND

PHOTO GALLERY

UP NEXT

The Sabres open a four-game road trip in St. Louis on Sunday afternoon. Coverage on MSG begins at 2:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 3.