Meet the NHL's newest supervillain: Jack Eichel.
The former Sabres star's first game back in Buffalo since he was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights was one to forget, but he reversed that trend in his second return to Western New York on Thursday night — playing like a man possessed and letting the crowd hear it on the way to a hat trick.
Though Eichel was snake bitten through two periods, denied by netminder Eric Comrie on a pair of breakaways, the 2015 No. 2 overall Sabres pick exploded in the third.
First, he banged home a rebound six minutes into the frame to make it 5-2. Then, after Buffalo scored, he caught a pass off the rush before firing the puck past Comrie.
And for the icing on the cake, Eichel scored an empty netter in the 7-4 win.
Best of all? Eichel shamelessly taunted the Buffalo crowd with his arms spread wide after each goal.
Eichel opened the day saying he might've been "a little bit hurt" by Sabres fan reactions last season, and those same supporters kept the energy going Thursday by booing their former captain each and every time he touched the puck.
The Sabres faithful won the first round in March, when Buffalo beat Vegas 3-1 and Eichel was held pointless.
This time, Eichel got his revenge.
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