Kucherov has natural hat trick in Lightning's 8-3 romp over Sabres

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov had a natural hat trick and an assist — all in the third period — and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Buffalo Sabres 8-3 on Wednesday night for their fourth victory in five games.

Kucherov, the Russian star who requested a trade Oct. 30, had his eighth NHL hat trick after the Sabres scored three in a row to cut it to 4-3.

Brandon Hagel scored twice, John Carlson had a goal and four assists, and Scott Sabourin and Yanni Gourde also scored. Jake Guentzel had four assists, and Anthony Cirelli added three, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.

Josh Doan, Jason Zucker and Tage Thompson scored for the Sabres, who have lost three of their last four. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made nine saves on 14 shots and Colten Ellis stopped five of eight shots in relief.

Thompson cut it to 4-3 33 seconds into the third period, but Kucherov soon took over, scoring his first two in a 2:46 span.

Lightning: At Columbus on Thursday night.

Sabres: At Chicago on Thursday night.

See AP’s full NHL coverage here