BUFFALO, N.Y (WIVB) — 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.
Each tallying four-point games with assists on one of the other’s goals, Thompson and Peterka became the first Sabres teammates with hat tricks in the same game since Derek Roy and Drew Stafford accomplished the feat in a 10-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers on Jan. 18, 2008. They are the first tandem to do it in this NHL season.
Thompson blasted a 102 mph one-timer fed by Dylan Cozens within a minute of Boston taking the lead in the first period. He swept in the go-ahead goal on a slick passing sequence by Ryan McLeod and Mattias Samuelsson early in the second period, and notched his seventh career hat trick and first of the season on a snap shot from the right circle early in the third.
With seven goals and 14 points in 12 games since moving from center to right wing, Thompson’s 25 goals on the season moved into the top 10 on the NHL leaderboard. His 13 goals in first periods lead the league.
Peterka, who had an assist on Thompson’s first goal, sniped a shot from the left circle over the glove of Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman to give the Sabres a two-goal lead less than two minutes after Thompson’s goal in the early stages of the second period. Peterka then made a great individual effort splitting a pair of Bruins defenders to score toward the end of the third, and added an empty-netter for his 13th goal of the season and first career hat trick.
Zach Benson also scored in the third period for Buffalo, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves.
Buffalo returns to the ice Friday night against the Nashville Predators in a game that will be preceded by Rob Ray being inducted into the Sabres Hall of Fame.
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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.