WINNIPEG - Buffalo Sabres forward Evander Kane got the last laugh on Sunday afternoon.

Kane assisted on the game's final empty-net goal, which gave Sam Reinhart a hat trick and the Sabres a 4-2 win Sunday that halted their six-game losing skid.

Kane was playing his first game against the team that traded him last Feb. 11 in a multi-player deal that many fans considered good riddance.

The razzing of Kane started during the warm-up, when he was the first Sabres skater on the ice. Within seconds, he stepped on a puck and fell, sparking fans at MTS Centre to cheer his tumble.

"It was all part of the plan," Kane said after the game. "I was looking to get some cheers out of the crowd and get them behind. So, I thought that'd be a good way to do it."

Reinhart had nothing but praise for the way Kane handled himself in front of a hostile crowd, and how he chose to set him up for his third goal with 25.7 seconds left.

Kane could have shot the puck and scored himself, noted the rookie, who recorded his first NHL hat trick and 12th goal of the season on the play.

"It says a lot for him to handle the welcome back, if I can put it that way, the way he did," Reinhart said.

"To make the play he did shows he really is unselfish and will do anything for the team."

Kane noted he has yet to score a hat trick of his own since joining the NHL.

"So when you get an opportunity to get one, he's a young kid, his rookie year, and wide open," Kane said. "I might as well hit him for a pass and get him his hat trick. It was great to see from him."

Marcus Foligno also scored for Buffalo (16-22-4) and Linus Ullmark made 42 stops.

Winnipeg (19-20-3) got goals from Blake Wheeler and Mathieu Perreault. Wheeler, who ended a 12-game scoring drought, also had an assist. Bryan Little added two helpers while Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 25 shots.

The teams were tied 2-2 heading into the third period when Hellebuyck gave up a long rebound from Brian Gionta's point shot, which Foligno used to put the puck over the goalie at 4:12 for his third goal of the season.

"I was just trying to get it up on the glass," Hellebuyck said of the rebound. "It felt like I got my toe on it instead of my stick and then it was right on his tape and I wasn't able to get back in time."

Jets head coach Paul Maurice had no concerns about the game-winning goal.

"My thoughts on my goaltender is he's been just spectacular," Maurice said.

As far as any distractions for his players with the Kane hoopla, the coach dismissed that as having an impact.

"I thought we handled it fine. There wasn't much on the ice."

Five players involved in the Kane trade were playing, including Buffalo defenceman Zach Bogosian and Jets forwards Drew Stafford, Joel Armia and defenceman Tyler Myers.

Kane was booed when he touched the puck and was the target of chants such "best trade ever" and "in the shower."

The shower reference, and some fans sporting track suits, poked fun at a report last season that Kane had violated team rules in Vancouver by showing up to a meeting on game day in a track suit. Jets defenceman Dustin Byfuglien allegedly later threw the track suit into a cold tub or shower.

Buffalo silenced the crowd early as Reinhart's wrist shot from the top of a circle went past Hellebuyck at 1:37 of the opening period.

The Sabres led 2-1 after the first, but Perreault's power-play goal 56 seconds into the middle frame tied it up.

Perreault left the game twice with what looked like a knee injury, the final time late in the third. Maurice said he had no update on him, but added he expects scratched centre Mark Scheifele (lower body) will return Tuesday when Winnipeg hosts San Jose. Buffalo visits Minnesota the same day.