CALGARY, AB — Alex Tuch had his first career hat trick and the Buffalo Sabres handed Calgary its first loss of the season, beating the Flames 6-3 on Thursday night.
Rasmus Dahlin scored for the fourth straight game to set an NHL record for defenseman to open a season.
“It’s crazy,” the 22-year-old Dahlin said. “I don’t know what to say really. It’s pretty crazy to think about it. There’s 78 games left. I’ve got more job to do.”
Flames coach Darryl Sutter has taken notice.
“Pretty dominant player for them,” Sutter said. “Probably the best player on the ice.”
Eric Comrie made 40 saves and Dylan Cozens and Casey Mittelstadt also scored to help Buffalo (3-1-0) complete an Alberta sweep after a 4-2 victory in Edmonton on Tuesday night.
“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing against, if they’re the toughest team in the league or super highly-skilled, we can play with anyone,” Tuch said.
Andrew Mangiapane, Trevor Lewis and Nikita Zadorov scored for Calgary (3-1-0).
“You can’t take any team lightly, that’s for sure,” Mangiapane said. “I don’t think we played our game at all. Maybe a few spurts here and there but it wasn’t the best game from our group.”
Jacob Markstrom stopped nine of the 12 shots he faced before making way for Dan Vladar, who made 17 saves.
Tuch scored his first of the night at 46 seconds of the second period. He added his second on a power play at 5:41 of the third, toe-dragging around Mangiapane and whipping a shot inside the far post.
Playing his 309th NHL game, Tuch wrapped up the hat trick with an empty-netter for his fifth goal of the season.
