Thomas Vanek has hat trick, adds 2 assists to lead Sabres past Bruins 7-4

Jimmy Golen, The Associated Press

BOSTON - Thomas Vanek had three goals and two assists, setting up the tiebreaking score with 13:06 left in the third period on Thursday night to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 7-4 victory over the Boston Bruins.

Vanek opened the scoring 98 seconds into the game, then had a goal and an assist to tie it after Boston took a 3-1 lead in the second. The Bruins went up 4-3 in the third before Alexander Sulzer tied it on a wrister from the faceoff circle, and then Vanek helped give Buffalo the lead when he kept the puck in the zone, faked a shot and slid it over to Cody Hodgson for the game-winner.

Ryan Miller made 38 saves for Buffalo, which ended a four-game winless streak.

Tuukka Rask stopped 25 shots for the Bruins.