Nikita Kucherov may want out of Tampa Bay. On Wednesday night he gave the Lightning one more reason to want him to stay.

Kucherov scored a natural hat trick in the third period and added an assist as the Lightning beat the Buffalo Sabres 8-3 in Buffalo. It was Tampa Bay's fourth win in five games.

It was the eighth hat trick of Kucherov's NHL career. The Russian star asked the team for a trade on Oct. 30.

Sabres get close, then Kucherov takes over

The Lightning looked to be cruising early. Scott Sabourin and John Carlson scored in the final 71 seconds of the first period. Brandon Hagel and Yanni Gourde made it 4-0 in the second.

Buffalo then scored three in a row. Josh Doan and Jason Zucker scored late in the second period. Tage Thompson blasted a slap shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy 33 seconds into the third to make it 4-3.

Kucherov answered 52 seconds later with a backhand. He scored again on a slap shot at 4:11 of the period. Then he finished the hat trick with another slap shot at 14:13.

Less than a minute later he set up Hagel for his second goal of the night to make it 8-3.

Big nights all around

Carlson had a goal and four assists for a five-point night. He assisted on all three of Kucherov's goals. Jake Guentzel had four assists and Anthony Cirelli had three.

Vasilevskiy made 28 saves. Buffalo pulled Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen after he allowed five goals on 14 shots. Colten Ellis stopped five of eight in relief.

The Lightning improved to 12-4-2. The Sabres have lost three of their last four.

Tampa Bay plays at Columbus on Thursday night. Buffalo visits Chicago the same night.