Thompson and JJ Peterka had hat tricks against the Bruins on Tuesday night — a good sign for Lindy Ruff's lineup tweaks.

The Boston Bruins suffered an embarrassing 7-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 28. With the Sabres at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, this was a winnable game for Boston, but they were blown out instead.

Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka each had a hat trick and an assist to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 7-2 win against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

The West Coast road trip did not go well for the Buffalo Sabres. Ending with a 3-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, the Sabres returned home after dropping three of the four games on the trip.

BUFFALO -- Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka each scored a hat trick and had an assist for the Buffalo Sabres in a 7-2 win against the Boston Bruins at KeyBank Center on Tuesday. Thompson got his 7th NHL hat trick, Peterka his first.

"It feels like we need a miracle for either of Terry Pegula's core teams to ever win a championship. There's not many people in this town who can vouch that this is possible, but I can," writes Harrington.

Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka each recorded a hat trick and an assist to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 7-2 win over the visiting Boston Bruins on Tuesday.

A rebuild in the NHL can be a grueling process. With the patience needed to develop prospects, and decide whether to add or subtract to the team and what each offseason has to offer, there aren’t many situations for a team to be in that are more stressful than this.

Lindy Ruff hasn’t asked Tage Thompson if he’s still dealing with the bothersome injury that forced him to move from center to right wing earlier this month.

The lead lasted all of 55 seconds. The B’s top line got hemmed in its own end for much of the shift and, after it finally pushed it out of the zone, the players got caught in a change. On a Sabre 4-on-3, Matt Poitras got lost out high and Dylan Cozens connected with the wide-open trailer Thompson, who ripped a slapper past Swayman.

Red Sox inviting top prospects to spring training: When the Red Sox begin spring training (the first full team workout is scheduled for Feb. 17), the list of players in attendance will include a few notable prospects.