Alex Tuch hat trick carries Sabres past Flyers

Alex Tuch scored his second career hat trick to help the Buffalo Sabres to a 6-3 win against the host Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist and Casey Mittelstadt had three assists for the Sabres (37-31-7, 81 points), who moved to within four points of the Florida Panthers for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, with two games in hand. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 39 saves.