On April 5th, 2011, Thomas Vanek recorded a hat trick on home ice. No other player had been able to hit that milestone at home... until Friday night.
It was the night of Jack Eichel as he recorded three goals and one assist in the Sabres 5-4 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. It was the first hat trick of his career.
After four straight games of recording a point or more, the Sabres rebounded following the Philadelphia loss and got a point in Friday night's overtime loss. The Sabres are now 8-18-7.
The Hurricanes got the scoring going with 9:44 remaining in the second period after Justin Williams grabbed the rebound off a Chad Johnson save. It was Williams' 7th goal of the season.
The lead was short-lived though. Thirty seconds later, Jack Eichel scored his ninth goal of the season off a rebound to make it a 1-1 game after two periods.
Just a minute and twenty seconds into the third period, Jake McCabe took an Eichel rebound to give the Sabres a 2-1 lead. Carolina challenged the goal for goaltender interference but the goal stood after review.
The Hurricanes though, like the Sabres in the second period, had a quick response of their own after Jordan Staal tied it up less than two minutes later. Derek Ryan and Elias Lindholm also added goals minutes between each other to give the Hurricanes a 4-2 edge with thirteen minutes to go in the game.
Eichel though had other plans. Down two goals, he scored two goals just ten seconds apart to tie the game up and force overtime.
The Hurricanes wound up winning in the extra period to seal the win.
Johnson made his first start since December 2nd and made 29 saves.
The Sabres will have a few days off before they're back at home on Tuesday, December 19th against the Boston Bruins (15-10-4).
