Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka had hat tricks, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 25 saves as Buffalo rolled to a 7-2 win over Boston.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen wasn't able to bail out the Sabres when they began to make mistakes in the second period. Their starting goalie was outplayed by Penguins backup Alex Nedeljkovic, as Pittsburgh scored four consecutive goals and held on for a 5-2 win in KeyBank Center.
The Sabres begin a four-game western road trip. The Buffalo Sabres begin a four-game western road trip by visiting the Seattle Kraken on Monday at Climate Pledge Arena. In losing 5-2 to Pittsburgh on Friday, the Sabres recorded a season-high 42 shots on goal and felt they deserved a better outcome.
The Penguins snapped a three-game losing streak, improving to 19-20-8. The Sabres, now 17-23-5, will look to address their defensive and penalty-kill issues. Earlier this season they lost 11 straight games and have lost five of their last eight games.
Buffalo got two hat tricks for the first time since 2008 as Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka both had three goals and four points. Jiri Kulich had an assist to give the line six goals and three assists for nine points.
Lindy Ruff hasn’t asked Tage Thompson if he’s still dealing with the bothersome injury that forced him to move from center to right wing earlier this month.
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Thompson, Peterka lead Sabres to win over Bruins
Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka each record a hat-trick on Tuesday night to help power the Buffalo Sabres to a 7-2 victory over the Boston Bruins at KeyBank Center. A complete game recap from WGR:
Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka each recorded a hat trick and an assist to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 7-2 win over the visiting Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.
Luukkonen made 25 saves in a 7-2 win over Boston on Tuesday. He allowed an even-strength goal to Mason Lohrei to open the game, and then added a power-play goal by Brad Marchand. Luukkonen is on a roll -- he is 8-4-1 in his last 13 starts with a .
Luukkonen is 4-3-1 in January, and he has played at a mediocre level with a 3.12 GAA and an .893 save percentage. The Bruins will be down three of their regulars on the blue line, so given Luukkonen's recent performance, this could end up being a high-scoring game.
Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri each had a goal and two assists for the Calgary Flames, who used three third-period goals to cruise past the visiting Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Thursday.
Jiri Kulich had a goal and two assists to help the visiting Buffalo Sabres rally for a 3-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.