Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Alex Tuch’s hat-trick and Alex Lyon’s team record 10th-straight win fueled the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.
We still don’t know if Tuch is going to sign a contract extension and remain a member of the Sabres, but after his fourth-career hat-trick, he said something I haven’t heard in the Buffalo locker room in a long, long time.
"We’ve stopped hoping. It’s good," said Tuch during his postgame comments. "We’re coming in with a lot of confidence, and we’re trying to prove as a team that we’re legit. We’re not going to just go for the playoffs. We’re going to go for the [Stenley] Cup. And that’s our goal, to get better each and every day. That’s the end goal, honestly.
"We’re not here just to squeak in. We’re in here to try to keep winning. We’re chasing a couple of really good teams in Detroit [Red Wings] and Tampa [Bay Lightning], and we know each game is going to be like playoff hockey. And we’re going to be ready to win."
Tuch has 11 goals in his last 18 games, and he’s now on pace for 35 goals this season.
Think about it: This team is doing something the 1975 Stanley Cup Final team, the 1999 Stanley Cup Final team, the teams of Ryan Miller, Danny Briere and Chris Drury didn’t do. They just went 20-3-1!
By winning 10-straight games, Lyon is doing something Dominik Hasek, Tom Barrasso and Miller didn’t do. Lyon said make no mistake, he’s not Dominik Hasek.
"It’s awesome to be part of the history, but when you’re stacked up against guys like Ryan Miller and Hasek, those are the guys I idolized growing up. I’m certainly not going to put myself anywhere near the conversation with those guys," said Lyon during his postgame comments. "I’m happy for the team. My goal coming into the season was to help win games and try to fight for that ultimate goal, and that’s what’s most important to me. So the process, we’re just in the middle of it."
Lyon was, once again, stellar, as he’s given up one goal in his last two starts. It was a tip-in on the power play by Adrian Kempe, which broke Lyon’s shutout streak at 98:17.
Buffalo knew how tight Los Angeles wanted to play, and what was the key to this win was the Sabres led 2-0 by the 11:17 mark of the first period.
Tuch opened the scoring on the power play, trying to pass in front to Zach Benson. The puck hit Kings defenseman Cody Ceci and went in past Darcy Kuemper.
Kuemper just simply missed the blast from the point by Mattias Samuelsson, who now has four goals and 14 assists for 18 points in his last 18 games.
Not to be outdone, Rasmus Dahlin got an assist on that goal, giving him seven goals and seven assists for 14 points in 10 games.
It looked like the Kings had scored early in the second period, but Corey Perry was going to the net like he always does and he took out Lyon well before Alex Laferriere scored from the side of the crease.
The referees got together and disallowed the goal. No challenge was needed.
One of the referees, Alex Lepkowski, is from Buffalo and was a fifth-round pick of the Sabres in the 2011 NHL Draft. He only played eight games with the Rochester Americans.
The formula for winning is starting to be the same for this team lately. Play a lackluster second period, regroup during intermission and lock it down to win in the third.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff thought his team got too cute in the second, trying to make plays going East-to-West instead of being direct. He said they passed up way too many good chances and passed instead.
The third period was very uneventful, which is exactly what Ruff wanted.
Tuch got his hat-trick with an empty-net goal. That was Buffalo's 18th empty-netter, which leads the NHL.
For years they’d lose games because they could never hit the empty net. Now it seems like they hit it every time the other team pulls their goalie for the extra attacker.
The Sabres have a .632 points percentage, which is third in the Atlantic Division. The Red Wings are second at .636, and the Lightning, who Buffalo plays Tuesday, are first at .692.
If the Sabres look down Saturday’s opponent, the Montreal Canadiens are in the No. 1 Wild Card spot at .620, and the Boston Bruins are in the second Wild Card at .609.
The first team out of the playoffs is Monday’s opponent, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers at .557.
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