Tuch's hat trick propels Sabres to victory over Flyers

PHILADELPHIA - Alex Tuch knew he missed out on an opportunity.
So, when he found himself with the puck on his stick and a chance to put the Philadelphia Flyers away late in the game, he knew he needed to finish.
"I probably should have buried one earlier than that, but that felt really good," Tuch said.
Tuch scored a shorthanded goal with 3:27 remaining to earn his second career hat trick and put the finishing touches on a 6-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center.

The top-line winger had plenty of chances against the Flyers. He moved in on a 2-on-1 early in the first period, but his shot missed its mark. Later in the game, he found himself all alone with another shot to beat Flyers goalie Felix Sandstrom and couldn't convert.
"I was frustrated with myself, I didn't bury the last breakaway I had, so I thought I'd want to maybe deke on that one instead," Tuch said.
Tuch's theatrics illustrated two things on Saturday night: that these Sabres are still alive in the hunt for a playoff spot, and that he's finally healthy after returning from an injury in the heat of the race.
"You can see that he came back soon to help us, from injury," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "Too soon to play his game."
The Sabres may be getting healthy at precisely the right time. Buoyed by the additions of Tuch and Mattias Samuelsson from the injury list, they've now run their point streak to five straight games with a 4-0-1 mark.
"Those two guys healthy, Tuch up front and Samuelsson on the back end, obviously make everybody's life so much easier," Granato said. "Nobody has to try and fill in any voids and it was big because of it."
Tuch helped spearhead a four-goal outburst in the second period. Buffalo fell behind early on a goal by Morgan Frost as the Flyers outshot the Sabres 14-5 and controlled play for much of the first period. But they got a redo when Kyle Okposo tallied with ten seconds left to even the score.
"He is our leader. Those are little things that matter," Granato said of Okposo. "Even when he shot the puck, you could see the intent, the aggression. There was a lot in that shot. That was something we desperately needed tonight and that goal was big at the end of the first."
Okposo's 11th of the season gave the Sabres new life in the second and set the stage for Tuch to take over. He opened the scoring just 1:25 into the period after Casey Mittelstadt poked a puck away from Philadelphia defenseman Ivan Pronorov and fed Tuch with a drop pass for the go-ahead goal.
"He's (Mittelstadt) a guy who has really kind of gone under the radar. He's done a nice job for us. Obviously now he gets a chance to play with Tuch and a chance to play with (Jeff) Skinner and you can see his skill set shine a little brighter."
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen started in goal for the Sabres and stopped 39 of 42 shots. Luukkonen was tested early and kept the Sabres afloat, allowing them to find their legs in the second period.
"We didn't have legs in the first. The break helped us," Granato said. "The tweaks that we were able to make, they were able to just find the calm. Even in the first when we say we didn't have our legs, we were hurrying plays."
Skinner and Jordan Greenway also got in on the scoring outburst in the second period as the Sabres built a 5-2 lead heading into the third period. Travic Konecny, the Flyers' leading scorer, beat Luukkonen just over five minutes into the period before Tuch's late-game dagger sealed the game.
"We're still in the fight, it's a great thing to see and I like the way our guys are playing and approaching it," Granato said.

#

How it happened

PERIOD 1
Buffalo fired four shots on Philadelphia goaltender Felix Sandstrom in the game's first 7:38 but failed to register another shot on goal for the next 12-plus minutes.
When they did, it came off the stick of Okposo, who ripped a wrist shot past Sandstrom at 19:50 to even the score at one goal apiece.

Buffalo fell behind earlier in the period on a goal by Morgan Frost. Frost beat Luukkonen with a snapshot from the right circle at 16:35.
Luukkonen was under pressure early and made several key saves in the period as the Flyers outshot the Sabres 14-5. The Finnish netminder made a save on Kevin Hayes from between the circles and followed it up by denying the Flyers on a 3-on-2 rush.
PERIOD 2
The Sabres gave themselves breathing room with three goals in a span of 2:21 early in the second period, beginning with Tuch's first goal of the night.
Casey Mittelstadt poked the puck away from Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov near the blue line and entered the zone with Tuch trailing. Tuch buried a drop pass from Mittelstadt for his 33rd goal of the season.

Greenway buried a loose puck 1:15 later to extend the Sabres' lead to 3-1. Skinner scored to complete the early run, then Tuch added his second goal of the game with 3:58 remaining.

The Flyers got a goal back late when Frost scored his second of the game to make the score 5-2.
PERIOD 3
Philadelphia killed off a penalty to Provorov to start the period and cut the Sabres' lead to 5-3 with a goal by Travis Konecny at 5:11.
The Flyers earned a pair of power plays from that point on but were unable to capitalize against the Sabres penalty kill. Tuch completed his hat trick with a shorthanded goal with 3:27 remaining

What we learned

1. Mittelstadt tallied three assists. After posting two assists Friday against New York, he has recorded multiple assists in consecutive games for the first time in his career. He also has seven helpers in his last four games.
2. Greenway's goal marks the fourth time in his career that he has recorded at least one goal in two or more consecutive games. It is the first time he has done so since he notched a goal in three straight games from March 13 to 19, 2022 as a member of the Minnesota Wild.

Up Next

The Sabres will be back in action on Tuesday night in Florida when they take on the Panthers at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on MSG and WGR 550 with pregame coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. on MSG.