More comeback nuggets
Sabres information guru Kevin Snow checked in with the Elias Sports Bureau and has provided these juicy nuggets from last night's wild comeback win over the Houston Oilers, er, Tampa Bay Lightning (kudos to Don for that crack in the comments section!):
1). The last team to score 6+ unanswered goals in the third period in one game was Colorado on March 3, 1999 at Florida (also six).
2). The Sabres trailed, 4-1, with just under 15:00 to play in the third period before rallying. It's just the fifth time in NHL history that a team won a game by a margin of three (or more) goals after trailing by at least three goals in the third period. The last team to do it was Chicago on Feb. 1, 1989 (vs. Winnipeg, also in a 7-4 win)
3). Thomas Vanek recorded his second natural hat trick of the season against Tampa Bay. The last player with two natural hat tricks against one team in the same season was Washington's Peter Bondra vs. the Islanders in 1995-96.
4). All three of Vanek's goals were assisted on by Derek Roy and Drew Stafford. The last natural hat trick on which the same two players assisted on all three goals was by Calgary's Jarome Iginla on March 4, 2002 against the Rangers in New York. Marc Savard and Craig Conroy assisted on all three goals.
---Mike Harrington
Photo: Vanek celebrates his hat trick with Roy and Stafford/Mark Mulville-Buffalo News
