Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - Vladimir Tarasenko scored a hat-trick on Thursday night, helping to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 6-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center.
Owen Power earned his first NHL point with an assist in the loss. St. Louis continued their dominance over the Sabres as they have gone 15-2-1 in the last 18 matchups.
After killing off an early penalty, the Sabres took the game's first lead as Rasmus Asplund deflected home a point shot by defenseman Henri Jokiharju with 7:40 left in the first period.
However, Buffalo got into more penalty trouble late in the period, as Cody Eakin and Power took back-to-back penalties, putting the Sabres two men down. St. Louis took advantage, as David Perron made it 1-1 with just 23.7 seconds left in the first.
It only took 17 seconds for the Blues to take the lead in the second. With Power still in the box, Brandon Saad scored to make it 2-1, St. Louis.
Despite taking his first NHL penalty late in the first period, Power made up for it by earning his first NHL point, as he set up Alex Tuch for the game-tying goal 4:20 into the second.
St. Louis pushed back strong after Tuch's goal, as Tarasenko scored two second period goals just five minutes apart. Tarasenko's 29th and 30th goals of the season gave the Blues a 4-2 lead.
Pavel Buchnevich extended the Blues' lead to 5-2, as he chipped a bouncing puck past Anderson 6:18 into the third period.
The Sabres went into desperation mode late in regulation, pulling Anderson to bring on an extra attacker. Tarasenko ended up hitting the empty net, earning his hat-trick to cap off a 6-2 victory.
Blues center Robert Thomas also finished the night with five assists in the win.
----------
GAME RECAP
Scoring Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 12:20 - Rasmus Asplund (8) (Henri Jokiharju)
STL: 19:36 - David Perron (25) PPG (Torey Krug, Vladimir Tarasenko)
Second Period:
BUF: 4:20 - Alex Tuch (11) (Owen Power, Tage Thompson)
STL: 0:17 - Brandon Saad (21) PPG (Robert Thomas, Vladimir Tarasenko); 7:18 - Vladimir Tarasenko (29) (Pavel Buchnevich, Robert Thomas); 12:45 - Vladimir Tarasenko (30) (Torey Krug, Robert Thomas)
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
STL: 6:18 - Pavel Buchnevich (26) (Colton Parayko, Robert Thomas); 17:32 - Vladamir Tarasenko (31) ENG (Pavel Buchnevich, Robert Thomas)
----------
Penalty Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 5:19 - Rasmus Dahlin (Hooking - 2 min.); 18:08 - Cody Eakin (Hooking - 2 min.); 19:05 - Owen Power (Cross-checking - 2 min.)
STL: 14:50 - Brandan Saad (High sticking - 2 min.)
Second Period:
BUF: NONE
STL: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
STL: 14:24 - Ivan Barbashev (Slashing - 2 min.)
----------
----------
Losi and Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Vladamir Tarasenko - STL
2.) Robert Thomas - STL
3.) Pavel Buchnevich - STL
----------
What's next:
The Sabres continue their homestand this weekend when they host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday for a 7 p.m. ET puck drop. Catch all of the action on the flagship home of the Sabres Radio Network - WGR Sports Radio 550, starting with pregame coverage at 6 p.m. ET with Brian Koziol. Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams joins the pregame show at 6:10 p.m. ET.
