Game 76: Tables turned

The Sabres won their fourth straight game and seventh in eight 6-3 against the Bruins in a game that would've ended much differently in December.

BUFFALO — The Buffalo Sabres are providing a lot of material for the most cynical fans within its base and frankly, that’s OK.

In a game that started abysmally against the Boston Bruins in which they handed them a 2-0 lead after the first period in the latest example of an effort that smacked of the team that thought it would be easy, they did something that almost certainly wouldn’t have happened as recently as December or January: They self-corrected between periods.

For the final 40 minutes, the Sabres outscored the Bruins 6-1 on the way to a 6-3 win, their fourth straight victory, seventh in the past eight games, and ninth in the past 12. What a time to get hot, eh?

“Not looking toward next season, looking toward next game,” Alex Tuch said. “I think that’s something that we’re really focused on, is finishing the right way and not worrying about it. Not worrying about what’s going to happen in the offseason or anything like that. It’s just next-game mentality, and I think that’s been key.”

Tage Thompson had his second hat trick of the season and upped his season total to 43 goals. Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin each had a goal and an assist, and Jason Zucker also added a goal. Bo Byram and Peyton Krebs each had two assists as well while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen got his first start since a disastrous game on the road in Philadelphia and made 18 saves.

Getting a complete effort in an incomplete game that featured heroics by their top players and role players handling their business? A plan coming together now while hanging on a microscopically thin thread of being in the playoff hunt (despite the very deep unlikeliness of that happening) continues to provide encouragement for the future even if your natural reaction to it is to say that it’s a “typical Sabres” phenomenon.

“I think first and foremost, we wanted to start playing the right way,” Tuch said. “I think we came out, and when you start winning games, you can start becoming a little complacent, think that the game is just going to happen in front of you. You just got to go out there and work, and that’s when the production comes and that’s when the wins start coming… Good bounce back. It was really mature of our group, and I’m proud of our group that we played the last 40.”

More ahead from a game that yet again featured a dominant performance from the top line and earned credit for the role players…