Tage Thompson didn’t bother with an emphatic goal celebration.
Thompson skated to the boards and waited to embrace his teammates, all while staring down Montreal Canadiens defenseman Alexander Romanov.
Only a few moments prior to Thompson scoring his team-leading 10th goal of the season, he was on the wrong side of a big hit by Romanov at center ice. Like his teammates did for three periods Friday night in KeyBank Center, Thompson did not relent.
The 6-foot-7 center skated down the ice, collected a pass from Jeff Skinner and beat goalie Samuel Montembeault with a high shot that all-but-secured a 4-1 win for the Buffalo Sabres to snap a four-game skid.
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“I was a little fired up after I got hit there, so it was a nice way to kind of I guess pay him back a little bit. If you play with confidence, obviously, good things happen," Thompson said.
Out since midway through the Oct. 14 season opener, Mittelstadt might only be a few days away from returning.
Sabres coach Don Granato, who has spoken with conviction about Thompson’s potential and “swagger,” smirked when asked about the confidence his 23-year-old center showed with the staredown: “You love it when you see it and when you back it up. He had both components there, so yes, I do love what I saw out of that.”
The Sabres (8-10-2) were winless in 10 of their previous 12 games and gave up 22 goals in their four consecutive losses. They were giving up goals in bunches – including four in 5:31 Wednesday against Boston – and Granato blamed “hesitation” for his team’s repeated lapses. He even cited “an inkling of doubt potentially creeping in.”
It is a story all too familiar to Sabres fans. Across the 10-year playoff drought, even Buffalo’s best and brightest have faltered when faced with adversity. After Granato pointed out the confidence issue to his players, they responded brilliantly, none more so than Thompson and his linemates.
Skinner and Victor Olofsson assisted on both Thompson goals Friday night. The first occurred with Skinner making a one-handed pass near the faceoff dot to Olofsson a few feet away. Olofsson found Thompson alone in the slot and the converted center scored his ninth goal of the season for a 1-0 lead 4:08 into the game. With the goal, Thompson surpassed the career-high eight he totaled in 38 games last season.
Quinn's 18 points through 14 games were third in the AHL entering Tuesday, and he has nine goals after totaling only two in 15 games last season.
“I think the confidence is continuing to grow and that’s just the product of guys playing good hockey around me, too,” said Thompson, who had four shots on goal and won 50% of his faceoffs.
Then came some signs of trouble. The Sabres went 9:29 without a shot on goal while Montreal tied the score on a defensive-zone turnover at 12:44 into the game. Buffalo answered by outshooting the Canadiens 14-2 during a second period in which Cody Eakin scored on a give-and-go rush with Vinnie Hinostroza and Kyle Okposo had a shorthanded goal 3:20 seconds into Brett Murray’s four-minute double minor for high sticking.
The Canadiens (5-15-2) entered Friday with zero wins when trailing after two periods, but they made a push early in the third. Thompson sealed their fate when he recovered from the Romanov hit, signaled to Skinner that he was open and scored for the 4-1 lead. Dustin Tokarski sealed the win with 25 saves.
“We’re all witnessing the benefit of him gaining experience,” Granato said of Thompson. “We’re witnessing it each and every day. Even on the second goal he scored tonight, he took a big hit and it did nothing but make him more possessed and determined. … That shows he was a little ticked off taking the hit and he said I’m going to take matters into my own hands here.”
Thompson became the 15th player in the NHL with at least 10 goals this season and through six weeks looks like the team’s obvious candidate for an all-star nod. He’s on pace for 41 goals, a projection that shows how far he has come since arriving as the prospect acquired in the Ryan O'Reilly trade.
Thompson, like many of his teammates, had his development negatively impacted by the franchise’s instability. There was the broken man-to-man defensive system under Phil Housley, Thompson’s season-ending shoulder injury in 2019-20 and Ralph Krueger’s reluctance to show any patience after Thompson used a strong training camp to earn a spot on the team’s top line alongside Jack Eichel and Taylor Hall at the start of last season.
Since Granato took over as interim coach last March, Thompson has emerged as a potential franchise cornerstone and led the Sabres to victory on a night when they could have crumbled again.
Here are other observations from the game Friday night:
1. Turning point
The Sabres’ penalty kill was just 14 for 23 over its previous six games. It was another area where Granato noticed hesitation, but it wasn’t an issue against Montreal. Okposo scored the shorthanded goal by converting his own rebound to make it 3-1. Tokarski made a key save and Robert Hagg blocked a shot.
“It’s a big momentum shift,” noted Eakin.
2. Impressive return
Murray was recalled from Rochester before puck drop and replaced Arttu Ruotsalainen in the lineup, providing the Sabres with a strong presence on the forecheck. Murray was also able to show his skill around the net, earning two scoring opportunities in the first period and narrowly missing his first career NHL goal.
Murray was in position to redirect an Okposo pass through the crease and the puck almost crossed the line. It was a noteworthy performance for Murray, who previously appeared in three games for Buffalo. He’s been outstanding in Rochester, scoring six goals in nine games for the Amerks.
“I liked his game a lot,” Granato said of Murray. “We certainly believe in him.”
3. Injury updates
The Sabres lost another forward Friday with the news that winger Drake Caggiula was placed on injured reserve with an upper body injury that carries a “week to week” designation.
Center Casey Mittelstadt, who skated with the Sabres on Wednesday for the first time since the season opener, had a long on-ice workout on his own Friday. Goalie Craig Anderson remains out with an upper-body injury that Granato acknowledged has caused some “concern.” Anderson hasn’t played since he made 22 saves in a loss at San Jose on Nov. 2.
4. Next
The Sabres face the Red Wings in Detroit on Saturday at 7 p.m. The next home game is Monday with the expansion Seattle Kraken in Buffalo for the first time. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
