BUFFALO – Following two pointless outings, Sabres winger Alex Tuch caught fire early in Friday’s blowout win, grabbing the puck behind the net and feeding Tage Thompson before the center adroitly found linemate Josh Doan at the net.
During a power play later in the first period, Tuch hit Bowen Byram from the right point as the defenseman crept into the slot.
In the second period, Tuch protected the puck along the wall in his own zone and one-handed it to captain Rasmus Dahlin, who fed a streaking Doan for another goal.
Tuch registered his last assist early in the third period, intercepting a pass in the neutral zone before skating in and backhanding the puck to Thompson in the right circle.
Four unique plays. Four assists on a night the Sabres sorely needed their top players to lead the way.
“I thought we got a heck of a game from him,” coach Lindy Ruff said following the Sabres’ 9-3 annihilation of the Chicago Blackhawks in KeyBank Center.
Tuch, 29, hadn’t done much over the previous four games, scoring one goal and two points. Like virtually every teammate in Wednesday’s embarrassing 6-2 loss to the lowly Calgary Flames, he struggled.
With Tuch serving as the offensive catalyst against Chicago, the top line, which also features Doan and Thompson, combined to score three goals and eight points.
“Oh yeah, I felt like more myself,” Tuch said of Friday’s effort. “I felt like I had some good jump. My work with the puck was a little bit better. I think I was holding onto it and hanging onto pucks and ragging it a little bit, which I think helps my game and I think creates a lot of space for my linemates, too. I get one or two guys on me and being able to protect the puck.”
Ruff, whose Sabres close a four-game home stand Sunday afternoon against the Carolina Hurricanes, said Tuch’s productivity can be traced to his compete level and skating.
“When he’s skating, he’s a tough man to track down,” he said. “I think skating creates room. When he creates room, he makes good decisions.”
Tuch’s assist on Byram’s goal was his 400th NHL point.
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Sabres winger Jack Quinn ended his 13-game goal drought in the third period against Chicago, scoring from the inside of the left circle, his first tally since Oct. 22.
“He’s had probably a dozen of those shots that haven’t gone in,” Ruff said.
Quinn’s nifty backhand also created winger Jason Zucker’s goal.
“He made a heck of a play on Zucker’s goal,” Ruff said.
Throughout the goalless stretch, Quinn, 24, generated offense but never got rewarded.
“It went back to the game in Carolina (on Nov. 8), which I thought he was just all over the puck creating chances,” Tuch said. “It keeps snowballing, and it was one that was bound to go in. He made it look really nice, so that’s a plus.”
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When Byram crashed hard into end boards early in the second period Friday and quickly headed to the dressing room – his right arm took the brunt of the impact – it appeared he suffered a serious injury.
But Bryan quickly returned to the ice.
“It didn’t look good initially,” Ruff said. “I was pretty worried that was a guy we weren’t going to see come back. We’ll see what tomorrow brings, but for him to finish the game, I thought we should be OK.”
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The goals center Ryan McLeod and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson scored eight seconds apart Friday were the fastest in the NHL this season and the Sabres’ fastest since Cody Hodgson and Nathan Gerbe scored six seconds apart on April 19, 2013.
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The Sabres had Saturday off.