Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres have now won eight-straight games out of the Olympic break, beating the San Jose Sharks, 6-3, on Tuesday night at KeyBank Center.
Jack Quinn was the guiding presence for the Sabres with a career night, registering four points and his first-career hat-trick.
Buffalo got out to a hot start, scoring just minutes into the game as winger Jack Quinn converted a 2-on-1 off a feed from linemate Jason Zucker.
Just over a minute later, winger Alex Tuch made it a 2-0 game with a deflection off a point shot from defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.
San Jose cut the lead in half midway through the first period, as Macklin Celebrini snuck a backhand past Alex Lyon in close off a turnover by the Sabres in their own end.
Late in the first period, the game started to get physical with Buffalo's new defenseman Logan Stanley getting into a fight with Sharks forward Zack Ostapchuk.
Then on the next shift, another fight broke out after Sabres forward Beck Malenstyn laid a big hit on Celebrini, resulting in Sharks winger Barclay Goodrow coming to the defense of San Jose's young star.
Buffalo got their two-goal lead back again five minutes into the second, as Malenstyn made a great individual effort to break through the San Jose defense and in alone on Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov. He managed to snap a shot past Askarov for his sixth goal of the year.
Just minutes later, Zucker extended the lead to 4-1 as he tucked in a Quinn rebound in front.
The Sharks made it a 4-2 game with just 31 seconds left in the second period. It was winger Kiefer Sherwood snapping home a one-timer past Sabres goalie Alex Lyon.
The Sabres came out quick to get their three-goal lead back again, as Sabres center Ryan McLeod set up Quinn in the slot for one-timer just 42 seconds into the third period.
With Zucker off for interference later in the frame, the Sharks made it a 5-3 game with center Alexander Wennberg sliding a puck past an extended leg of Lyon.
In the final minutes of the game, San Jose pulled Askarov, allowing Quinn to seal the contest with an empty-net goal to complete his hat-trick.
Quinn hit a few personal milestones in Tuesday's game. Not only did he earn his first-career hat-trick, but he put up a career-high four points against the Sharks, and established a new career-best 42 points.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 4:11 - Jack Quinn (13) (Jason Zucker, Ryan McLeod); 5:37 - Alex Tuch (28) (Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson)
SJS: 12:54 - Macklin Celebrini (33) (Will Smith)
Second Period:
BUF: 4:59 - Beck Malenstyn (6) (Peyton Krebs, Rasmus Dahlin); 8:51 - Jason Zucker (20) (Jack Quinn, Owen Power)
SJS: 19:27 - Kiefer Sherwood (20) (Mario Ferraro, Alexander Wennberg)
Third Period:
BUF: 0:42 - Jack Quinn (14) (Ryan McLeod, Rasmus Dahlin); 17:14 - Jack Quinn (15) ENG (Ryan McLeod)
SJS: 6:54 - Alexander Wennberg (13) PPG (Tyler Toffoli)
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BlueStar Home Services Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Jack Quinn - BUF
2.) Jason Zucker - BUF
3.) Beck Malenstyn - BUF
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What's next:
The Sabres continue their homestand on Thursday, as they welcome the Washington Capitals to KeyBank Center for a 7 p.m. faceoff. Catch all of the action on WGR Sports Radio 550, starting with pregame coverage at 6 p.m. with Mike Schopp and the Bulldog.