Alex Tuch recorded his fourth career hat trick to lead the host Buffalo Sabres to a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.
Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson also scored for the Sabres, who won their fifth straight and are 20-3-1 since Dec, 9. Jack Quinn had three assists and Ryan McLeod added two helpers. Alex Lyon, who made 37 saves, won his 10th in a row for a franchise record.
Adrian Kempe got the lone marker for the Kings, who had their three-game winning streak and six-game point streak (3-0-3) snapped. Darcy Kuemper stopped 28 shots.
Tuch’s power-play goal 7:14 into the game made it 1-0. Tuch’s turnaround shot from the bottom portion of the right circle deflected in off Los Angeles defenseman Cody Ceci. It was Tuch’s 20th goal. It is the fifth time in his career and the fourth season in a row that Tuch has reached that mark.
Samuelsson’s goal came with 8:43 left in the opening period. His one-time slap shot from just inside the blue line, off a face off, trickled through Kuemper. Samuelsson extended his point streak to five games (a goal and seven assists for eight points).
Los Angeles’ Quinton Byfield hit the crossbar in the first minute of the second period.
Tuch’s second goal made it 6:29 into the second when he tipped in a shot by defenseman Bowen Byram, who fired the puck from the left point.
That came 1:19 after an apparent goal by the Kings’ Alex Laferriere was disallowed because of goaltender interference.
Kempe put the Kings on the board with a power-play goal 7:47 into the middle period with a re-direction from the slot off a pass from Kevin Fiala.
Tuch completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal with a minute left. It was Buffalo’s second consecutive hat trick. Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin scored three goals in Tuesday’s 7-4 road win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Buffalo No. 1 goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will miss some time, according to coach Lindy Ruff, after suffering a lower-body injury on Tuesday.
