In the city known for its wings, two Sabres sizzled on Tuesday night. Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka both scored hat tricks as Buffalo’s top-line wingers led the charge back from an early deficit to beat the Bruins 7-2 in opening a four-game homestand at KeyBank Center.
Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka both had hat tricks in the win. Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka turned in one of the most productive performances by a set of teammates in Buffalo Sabres history, both scoring hat tricks to fuel a 7-2 win over the Boston Bruins at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.
The lead lasted all of 55 seconds. The B’s top line got hemmed in its own end for much of the shift and, after it finally pushed it out of the zone, the players got caught in a change. On a Sabre 4-on-3, Matt Poitras got lost out high and Dylan Cozens connected with the wide-open trailer Thompson, who ripped a slapper past Swayman.
The Buffalo Sabres activated forward Ryan McLeod off Injured Reserve (IR) and is expected to play Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers. Head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed to media on Friday that McLeod would be in the lineup.
McLeod will return to the lineup for the Sabres on Saturday, just in time to make his return to Rogers Place and play his former team, the Edmonton Oilers, for the first time. McLeod has missed the past three games with what he described as a “nagging” upper-body injury.
‘There’s a lot that goes into that I don’t really think about,” Kozak said after Thursday’s practice at KeyBank Center, reflecting on his recent back-and-forth between rosters. “I just think about playing the best I can, trying to get better every day. Just trying to make those decisions a little tougher.”
The Buffalo Sabres visit the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Saturday afternoon. It concludes a four-game road trip for Buffalo which has seen losses in Seattle and Calgary sandwich Tuesday’s comeback victory in Vancouver.
Hopkins' second goal of the game snapped a tie with 11:01 left as the Connor McDavid-less Edmonton Oilers overcame a barrage of Buffalo shots in the final two periods to beat the Sabres, 3-2, Saturday at Rogers Place.
Juraj Slafkovsky has been consistent with 10 points in his last 18 games, and fantasy hockey analyst Evan Berofsky is expecting more output from him soon.
With three goals and one assist apiece, Thompson and Peterka led the Buffalo Sabres to a 7-2 thrashing of the Boston Bruins. Fittingly, Buffalo’s most recent two-hat trick game had come against the Atlanta Thrashers on Jan. 18, 2008, courtesy of Derek Roy and Drew Stafford.
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.