NHL roundup: Nikita Kucherov’s hat trick leads Lightning past Sabres

Nikita Kucherov produced a third-period natural hat trick after Tampa Bay nearly wasted a four-goal lead, John Carlson reached 800 points with his first career five-point game, and the Lightning blew away the host Buffalo Sabres 8-3 on Wednesday. Kucherov figured in on all four Tampa Bay tallies in the third after Tage ​Thompson cut the lead to 4-3. Kucherov tallied at 1:25, 4:11 and 14:13 of the period to ‌put Tampa Bay up 7-3. Brandon Hagel had two goals and an assist for the Lightning, who earned their fourth win in five games. Anthony Cirelli posted three assists in his 600th game, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves. Josh Doan and Jason Zucker had goals for Buffalo, which lost for the third time in four games (1-3-0). Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen surrendered five goals on 14 shots. Colten Ellis relieved him early in the third period and ‌allowed ​three goals on eight shots. Penguins 3, Sharks 2 (SO) Ben Kindel scored the lone goal in ⁠a shootout as visiting Pittsburgh edged ⁠San Jose. Kindel, who also tallied in regulation, beat Yaroslav Askarov five-hole in the first round of the tiebreaker. Samuel Girard had the other goal for the Penguins, who improved to 2-4-1 in the past seven games. Sergei Murashov made 34 saves in regulation and overtime. Macklin Celebrini scored and added an assist while Mason Marchment also tallied for the ​Sharks, who have lost six of seven (1-5-1). Askarov stopped 33 shots in regulation and overtime. Oilers 3, Flyers 2 (OT) Evan Bouchard scored 47 seconds into overtime as Edmonton relinquished a two-goal lead before recovering to beat visiting Philadelphia. Bouchard also assisted on one ⁠of Zach Hyman’s two goals. Tristan Jarry made 30 saves as the ⁠Oilers improved to 14-3-3 (31 points), matching the second-highest point total through 20 games in franchise history. Tyson ​Foerster and Travis Sanheim rallied the Flyers to force overtime and extend their point streak to three games (1-0-2). Dan Vladar turned ​away 21 shots. Rangers 3, Flames 1 Mika Zibanejad scored twice to lead visiting New York to a ‌victory over Calgary. Tye Kartye also tallied, Alexis Lafreniere collected a pair of assists and Joonas Korpisalo made 29 saves to backstop the Rangers to their fourth victory in five outings. Adam Klapka tallied for the Flames, who have two wins in their past six outings. Devin Cooley stopped 21 shots. Golden Knights 5, Mammoth 3 Ivan Barbashev scored two goals and Victor Olofsson had a goal and ⁠two assists to help lead Vegas to its fourth straight victory, a decision over Utah in Las Vegas. Jack Eichel scored a goal and had an assist, Mitch Marner had three assists and Brett Howden also tallied for Vegas, which extended its point ⁠streak to five games (4-0-1). Carter Hart made ‌14 saves for the Golden Knights. Jack McBain scored a goal and had two assists, Lawson ⁠Crouse had a goal and an assist and Dmitri Simashev also found the net ​for the ‌Mammoth, who went 2-3-1 on a 14-day road trip. Sebastian Cossa stopped 23 of ​28 shots. Predators 4, ⁠Ducks 2 Shane Wright had a goal and two assists as visiting Nashville extended its winning streak to six games with a victory over Anaheim. Jayden Strubel and Nils Hoglander each had a goal and an assist and Steven Stamkos added a late insurance goal. Roman Josi had two assists, and Justus Annunen made 27 saves. Cutter Gauthier continued his scoring surge with a goal in his seventh consecutive game, but the Ducks saw their five-game winning streak end. Mikael Granlund added a goal and an assist and Laurent Brossoit ​made 18 saves. –Field Level Media