Kucherov’s hat trick powers Lightning past Sabres 8-3

The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Buffalo Sabres 8-3 on November 12, after Nikita Kucherov scored a natural hat trick in the third period to help secure Tampa Bay’s fourth win in five games. Kucherov also had an assist in the period, finishing with four points for the game, according to reports of the match.

Buffalo had cut the Lightning’s lead to 4-3 early in the third period before Kucherov scored three consecutive goals. The natural hat trick was his eighth NHL hat trick, according to the Associated Press account. Brandon Hagel scored twice for Tampa Bay, while John Carlson had a goal and four assists. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.

Josh Doan, Jason Zucker and Tage Thompson scored for Buffalo, which lost for the third time in its last four games. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed five goals on 14 shots before Colten Ellis entered in relief and stopped five of eight shots. The game was played at KeyBank Center in Buffalo before 19,070 spectators.

The Associated Press reported that Kucherov requested a trade on October 30. The Hockey News separately reported that he had announced he would not re-sign with Tampa Bay and wanted a change of scenery. That account said...