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Briere's hat trick propels Sabres over Lightning

Dec 6, 2006 - 3:25 AM TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- If Daniel Briere was still hurting from the hit he took on Saturday, he did not show it.

Briere registered his first career hat trick to lift the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The center, who was smashed into the boards from behind by Washington's Alex Ovechkin in a 7-4 loss, scored twice in a three-goal Buffalo outburst in the first period.

"Sure, I was thinking about it," said Briere, who recorded the hat trick in his 429th career game. "I've been so close so many times and just couldn't get it done in the end, so it is real sweet to have that first one behind you.

"Sometimes, you just need to get around the net, get a good bounce, be in the right place at the right time and things will happen for you. That's what happened tonight, my teammates put me in great position to make those plays."

Briere's first goal tied the game, 1-1, when he poked a rebound past Tampa Bay goaltender Marc Denis at 7:17. With Buffalo leading, 2-1, Briere scored his second when he took a backhand pass from Jochen Hecht in the low slot and slid the puck past Denis with 2:45 left.

Briere completed the hat trick with his 13th goal of the season. He took a feed from Hecht at the corner of the crease and banged the puck in for a 4-1 advantage at 12:21 of the third period.

"For a second, I was kind of surprised," Briere said of his accomplishment. "It took me a minute to realize that I finally did it. It is special, I am not going to tell you it doesn't feel real good."

Chris Drury scored the other goal for Buffalo and Ryan Miller finished with 29 saves.

The offensive woes continued for the Lightning, who have only scored eight goals in their four consecutive losses.

"The bottom line is you have to score goals," Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said. "We didn't score goals and we are struggling with our power play. It is frustrating because at times we played well. But we have to play better against the best teams, and Buffalo is one of those teams."

The Lightning went 0-for-5 on the power play against the Sabres and are 0-for-23 in their losing streak. Miller, who redeemed himself after surrendering three goals in the first 7:45 of the game on Saturday, was happy with the way the Sabres rebounded.

"Obviously, we are going to have some games where we just don't put it all together like Washington, but we know how to bounce back quickly and that says a lot about this team," Miller said. "We have great depth, great balance and great skill, and play with a lot of spirit and pride."

Vincent Lecavalier scored Tampa Bay's goal and Denis recorded 21 stops.

"We played a very good game, but didn't play as well as Buffalo," said Lecavalier, whose goal was his 14th. "We have to get angry and work out of this."