(WBEN/AP) Alex Tuch had his second career hat trick, Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3 on Saturday night.
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Jordan Greenway and Kyle Okposo also scored, and Casey Mittelstadt added three assists for Buffalo in its fourth win in five games. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 39 saves.
“Good team win all around,” Tuch said.
Morgan Frost scored twice for Philadelphia, and Travis Konecny also had a goal in his return to the lineup after a 16-game absence due to an upper-body injury. Felix Sandstrom had 23 saves.
The loss officially eliminated the Flyers from the playoffs. They entered with the seventh-fewest points in the NHL.
The Sabres turned the contest with four goals in under four minutes over the first and second periods.
“It was fun to watch,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said.
Okposo finished a 2-on-1 with a shot over Sandstrom’s glove side to tie the score at 1-all with 9.3 seconds left in the first period.
The Sabres then erupted for three goals in 2:21 early in the second.
Tuch got his first of the contest 1:25 into the period with a wrist shot from the slot over Sandstrom’s right shoulder after a drop pass from Mittelstadt to give Buffalo the lead. Greenway made it 3-1 when he scored on a rebound 75 seconds later. and Skinner capped the frantic scoring sequence by following his own miss to put the Sabres up 4-1 at 3:46.
WGR 550's Paul Hamilton on the Sabres playoff push
The Sabres have points in five consecutive games and by going 4-0-1, have nine out of 10 points. Buffalo is in 11th place by both points and points percentage. They’re three points in back of the ninth place Pittsburgh Penguins with one game in hand. Buffalo trails the eighth place Florida Panthers by four points with two games in hand and are behind the seventh place New York Islanders by six points with two games in hand.
Buffalo next plays Tuesday night in Florida where they pretty have no choice but to win that game in regulation. Before that game is played, the Islanders visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday while the Pens host the Flyers.