Tuch's hat trick helps Sabres top Flyers, keep pace in East wild card

PHILADELPHIA --Alex Tuch had a hat trick for the Buffalo Sabres in a 6-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.

Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist, and Casey Mittelstadt had three assists for Buffalo (37-31-7), which is 4-0-1 in its past five games, including a 3-2 overtime win against the New York Rangers on Friday. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 39 saves.
The Sabres remained four points behind the Florida Panthers, who moved into the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference following a 7-0 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
"The objective is to get a playoff spot and we've dealt with the pressure of that, we've dealt with the pressure of that through injuries," Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "We had a tough time compensating for it. Now we've hit a groove and a rhythm, and it's been great."

Morgan Frost scored twice, and Felix Sandstrom made 23 saves for Philadelphia (29-33-13), which was eliminated from playoff contention.
Associate coach Brad Shaw ran the Flyers' bench for the second straight game, with coach John Tortorella observing.
"Too many critical errors I think, especially with that stretch in the second period," Frost said. "Just mental mistakes and giving up odd-man rushes. I feel like for the most part of the year that's been relatively uncharacteristic for us. Can't have that."
Frost gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead at 16:35 of the first period when he scored from the right face-off dot.
Kyle Okposo tied it 1-1 with 10 seconds remaining in the period, scoring glove side on a 2-on-1 rush with Peyton Krebs.
"It's always nice to score last minute," Okposo said. "We didn't have the best period, a little sleepy in our details. To go into the locker room tied 1-1, it was really big for us. Came out in the second [period] and obviously scored a few quick ones."

Tuch put Buffalo ahead 2-1 at 1:25 of the second period with a shot from the slot, and Jordan Greenway extended it to 3-1 at 2:40 when he finished the rebound of a backhand by Tyson Jost.
Skinner then made it 4-1 at 3:46, batting his own rebound five-hole after Sandstrom stopped his initial shot from the right circle.
"We got a little loose," Shaw said. "That short window, in retrospect, we pretty much gave the game away."
Tuch said he could feel the Flyers' energy level drop after their three quick goals.
"We started going a little bit and started connecting, and obviously when you put a couple in, you get a little bit more momentum, a little bit of energy, and just feed off of that," Tuch said. "We were able to capitalize on our opportunities, and it went a long way."

Tuch pushed it to 5-1 at 16:02, taking a return pass from Mittelstadt before scoring blocker side from the top of the right circle.
Frost responded 22 seconds later to make it 5-2, and Travis Konecny scored from the left circle right off a face-off win by Noah Cates to cut it to 5-3 at 5:11 of the third period.
It was Konecny's first game since sustaining an upper-body injury on Feb. 20 (missed 16 games).
"'Catesey' just told me where to go, and I kind of just let it go and it found a spot," Konecny said. "I don't think I've scored one like that my whole career, so I'm just kind of lucky it went in."

Tuch completed his second NHL hat trick with a short-handed goal at 16:33 for the 6-3 final. His other hat trick came against the Calgary Flames on Oct. 20.
"I probably should have buried one earlier than that," Tuch said. "That felt really good. A great play by [Jack] Quinn there to set me up. Great job on the PK. ... Frustrated myself that I didn't bury the last breakaway I had, so I thought I want to maybe deke on that one instead."
NOTES: Philadelphia had its seven-game point streak end (5-0-2). … Mittelstadt has seven assists during a four-game point streak. ... The Flyers had a season-high 42 shots on goal after they had 11, the fewest in their history, in a 5-4 overtime loss at the Ottawa Senators on Thursday. … Tuch, Skinner and Tage Thompson each has at least 70 points this season. It is the first time Buffalo has had three players with at least that many points since 1992-93 (Alexander Mogilny, Pat LaFontaine and Dale Hawerchuk).