Sabres dominated by Lightning

Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR) - Despite closing the gap to a goal after trailing 4-0 in the second period, the Buffalo Sabres were unable to complete their comeback thanks to a third-period natural hat-trick for Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov in an 8-3 loss on Wednesday night at KeyBank Center.

Despite a strong first period, the Sabres ended the opening 20 minutes with a 2-0 deficit.

Scott Sabourin opened the scoring for the Lightning after converting on a second-chance opportunity that broke a scoreless stalemate. Conor Geekie took the initial shot on goal that was stopped by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, but Sabourin was able to convert for his first goal of the season.

Less than a minute later, veteran defenseman John Carlson buried a chance on the power play to double Tampa Bay''s lead to two goals. Josh Doan was penalized for shooting a puck over the glass and was in the penalty box when Carlson scored his sixth goal of the year.

Jake Guentzel and Charle-Edouard D'Astous were credited with the assists.

The lead ballooned to three for the Lightning early in the second period.

Brandon Hagel was able to collect a loose puck in the slot and slam it into the Buffalo net, giving him 10 goals on the year. Carlson and Anthony Cirelli assisted on the goal that put the Sabres down 3-0.

The deficit reached four when forward Yanni Gourde converted on a 2-on-1 opportunity in the offensive zone. His first goal of the season was assisted by Sam O'Reilly in his NHL debut.

Josh Doan was able to get the Sabres on the scoreboard thanks to the first power play goal of Buffalo's homestand.

He scored when Tampa Bay forward Ilya Mikheyev was in the box for roughing after a big hit on defenseman Erik Cernak delivered by Sabres winger Beck Malenstyn.

Doan's fourth goal of the year was assisted by Ryan McLeod and Josh Norris. The special teams goal cut Tampa Bay's lead to 4-1.

Buffalo was able to trim the deficit to two goals with less than a minute remaining in the second period. Strong passing in transition led to Jason Zucker's second goal of the year.

Noah Östlund and Jack Quinn picked up assists on Zucker's goal that was scored with 28 seconds remaining in the middle period.

The two teams traded goals in the first two minutes of the third period to keep it a two-goal game.

Tage Thompson briefly cut Tampa Bay's lead to a goal with his 11th goal of the year.

Peyton Krebs and Zach Benson helped create the scoring chance for Buffalo's top goal scorer and received assists on the goal.

However, Kucherov answered back less than a minute later to restore a two-goal lead for the Lightning, 5-3.

That signaled the end of the night for Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who gave up five goals on 14 shots faced in 41:25 of action.

The winger's second goal of the period was scored thanks to a cross-ice pass by Carlson to extend the Tampa Bay advantage to 6-3.

Kucherov then completed the natural hat-trick later in the third period to open up a 7-3 lead for Tampa Bay. His third goal of the period was scored on the power play.

The Lightning added to their scoring with Hagel's second goal of the game less than a minute later. It extended Tampa Bay's lead to 8-3.

In relief of Luukkonen, Colten Ellis was able to stop five of the eight shots he faced in 18:32 of ice-time.

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SCORING RECAP

First Period:
BUF: NONE
TBL: 18:49 - Scott Sabourin (1) (Conor Geekie, Jake Guentzel); 19:38 - John Carlson (6) PPG (Jake Guentzel, Charle-Edouard D'Astous)

Second Period:
BUF: 15:52 - Josh Doan (4) PPG (Ryan McLeod, Josh Norris); 19:32 - Jason Zucker (2) (Noah Östlund, Jack Quinn)
TBL: 4:33 - Brandon Hagel (10) (Anthony Cirelli, John Carlson); 13:02 - Yanni Gourde (1) (Jake Guentzel, Sam O'Reilly)

Third Period:
BUF: 0:33 - Tage Thompson (11) (Peyton Krebs, Zach Benson)
TBL: 1:25 - Nikita Kucherov (6) (Brandon Hagel, John Carlson); 4:11 - Nikita Kucherov (7) (John Carlson, Anthony Cirelli); 14:13 - Nikita Kucherov (8) PPG (John Carlson, Jake Guentzel); 15:06 - Brandon Hagel (11) (Nikita Kucherov, Anthony Cirelli)

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STATS OF THE GAME:

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Bluestar Three Stars of the Game:

1.) Nikita Kucherov - TBL
2.) John Carlson - TBL
3.) Jake Guentzel - TBL

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What's next:

The Sabres head out on the road for the first game of a six-game road trip on Thursday night in Chicago against the Blackhawks at United Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST on the flagship home of the Sabres Radio Network - WGR. Pregame coverage with Zach Jones and Derek Kramer starts at 7 p.m. EST.