There was a Jack Eichel sighting in Buffalo Friday night as he netted his first NHL hat trick.
The Sabres lost in overtime, 5-4 to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Jaccob Slavin spoiled the Eichel effort with a goal midway through the extra session.
“He keeps doing good things all the time, and we’ve had him in overtime since he’s basically been here,” Carolina coach Bill Peters said. “He’s a big man, skates real well, defends real good with a good stick, so he’s a good guy to play in that 3-on-3 situation and nice to see him get rewarded offensively.”
The Canes improved to 13-11-7 with the win and ended a six-game roadie with a 2-2-2 record.
“That’s part of being on the road,” Peters said. “We’ve got real good leadership, I know that for a fact. It’s just the way it is. You’ve got to play. You’ve got to play. There’s lots of hockey in front of you. We just needed to go out after 40 (minutes) and win a period. And it ended up being a tie after 60, three goals each in the third, and then the overtime was pretty entertaining.”
Cam Ward got the win on 37 saves.
Jake McCabe also scored for the Sabres in the loss.
Justin Williams, Jordan Staal, Derek Ryan, and Elias Lindholm scored for the Canes in regulation.
“It was frustrating for a little while there. I think the group knew we had better and we definitely came together with a good chat and try to get back on track here and just get back to working for one and you can tell the guys last three or four games have really just worked and things start moving in the right direction when you’re skating and moving and working and forechecking and doing all those things you’ve got to do and the key stuff comes later.” Staal said of the win and end of the road trip.
The game-winner came on a neat wrister.
“Just tried to hit the net,” Slavin said. “Great pass from [Lindholm]. Obviously, Eichel’s in front of me and just tried to get it around him and hit the net.”
“I’m not sure what happened on that last play,” Eichel said. “I think I screened [Johnson] trying to block the shot. … It stings, for sure. You get the building into it, the crowd’s going, it would’ve topped off a good night.”
[WATCH: All Hurricanes vs. Sabres highlights]
Chad Johnson. took the loss 29 saves.
“I hand it to our guys to find the energy to come back and tie the game. I thought it was a great effort on their part because it easily could’ve gone in the other direction,” Sabres head coach Phil Housley said after the tough loss in OT. “For the most part we played a really, really good game. It’s just those little details, and I continue to talk about it, our play without the puck. It’s that urgency that something bad could happen, and it did.”
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