There was some question after the contest if the goal belonged to McLeod or Tage Thompson, but it was eventually officially ruled to go to McLeod, giving him a hat trick. The 25-year-old has a pair of three-point efforts over his last three outings,

McLeod’s hat-trick goal with 24 seconds remaining put the finishing touches on a bend-but-don’t-break performance by the Sabres, who were coming off a loss to Seattle in their most recent game in which goals against compounded into a blown lead.