Sabres HC Lindy Ruff praises Alex Tuch after his hat-trick propels Buffalo to second straight win

Alex Tuch scored a hat-trick in the Buffalo Sabres' 6-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday, earning praise from his coach Lindy Roff. Tuch's performance helped the Sabres win their second straight game.

His first goal was a low shot from the right circle before completing his hat-trick with a breakaway goal. Ruff praised Tuch after his hat trick helped Buffalo beat the Blackhawks.

“Real happy. I mean, you get some opportunities,” Ruff said in a post-game press conference (via NHL.com).

Ruff acknowledged that the Sabres' home play wasn't great.

"Obviously, our playing at home here hasn't been what we like," he said. "For him to get three and the crowd to have a great night, I thought for him, he's got to feel good about that, and that should help propel his game."

Tuch also shared his thoughts on the win.

“It’s been a tough road the last couple months for us,” he said (via buffalonews.com).

“To see the crowd and the city stick with us, I think, is huge. That really meant a lot to all of us and, hopefully, there will be a lot more wins in this building going forward.”

Ruff believes the win will help Alex Tuch and the team moving forward.

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Alex Tuch reflects on penalty in Sabres' 6-2 win over Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks lost to the Buffalo Sabres on Friday at KeyBank Center.

Zach Benson gave the Sabres the lead with a shot off Rasmus Dahlin’s pass. Alex Tuch’s tip of a Tage Thompson shot made it 2-0. Jack Quinn scored 15 seconds later, putting Buffalo 3-0 up. Dylan Cozens made it 4-0 at the end of the first period.

Tyler Bertuzzi got Chicago on the board with a goal in the second period before Seth Jones scored early in the third to make it 4-2. Tuch then scored twice, once after a penalty and another with a steal, to complete his hat-trick and make it 6-2.

“Honestly, that’s a really bad penalty on my part,” Alex Tuch said (via NHL.com).

“They’re only down by a couple goals there. They get a power-play goal, they’re down by one, and letting them back into the game definitely is not something I want to do. So, it was a tough penalty on my part, but great kill and I was lucky enough to capitalize on a little breakdown at the end of the penalty kill there.”

The Blackhawks struggled with turnovers and couldn’t recover. This was their third straight loss after winning three in a row.