Tage Thompson Hat Trick, 5 Points in Sabres Win Over Ducks

Tage Thompson scored three goals and added two assists, and the Buffalo Sabres ripped off six straight goals to beat the Anaheim Ducks 7-6 on Thursday night at Honda Center.

It was Thompson's 10th career hat trick, tying Alexander Mogilny and Danny Gare for third-most in Sabres history. And he did it the night before his 29th birthday, which is a pretty good way to close out your 28s.

Thompson Took Over the Second Period

This game started badly for Buffalo. Mikael Granlund and Cutter Gauthier scored power-play goals 57 seconds apart. Tyson Kozak got Buffalo on the board, but rookie Roger McQueen answered scored his first NHL goal on a rebound to put Anaheim up 3-1 in the first period. Noah Ostlund got one back on the power play, and Thompson tied it before the intermission.

Then came the stretch Sabres fans will be replaying all weekend. Late in the second period, Thompson put Buffalo ahead 4-3 with a one-timer off a Peyton Krebs faceoff win. Fifteen seconds later he skated around the Anaheim defense for a breakaway goal that finished the hat trick and sent a dozen hats onto the Honda Center ice. Jack Quinn and Zach Benson scored early in the third to make it 7-3, and Buffalo had piled up six straight goals over roughly 35 minutes.

Thompson also set up two of those goals, assisting on Ostlund's power-play strike and Quinn's third-period goal. That is a hand in five of Buffalo's seven.

• Thompson: 3 goals, 2 assists

• Peyton Krebs: 3 assists

• Buffalo run: 6 straight goals

Almost a Collapse

It got a little too close at the end. Gauthier scored his second of the night midway through the third, then Tristan Luneau and Beckett Sennecke both scored in the final 1:08 with Ville Husso pulled for an extra attacker, but Colten Ellis (28 saves) and the Sabres hung on. Benson finished with a goal and two assists.

The win pushed Buffalo to 6-4-3 and 2-0-1 on its four-game road trip. Anaheim dropped to 5-7-1 with its seventh loss in eight games, and the Ducks are playing without injured defensemen Pavel Mintyukov and Ian Moore.

Next Up for Buffalo

The Sabres finish the trip at the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. LA is coming off a 6-5 overtime win over Ottawa on Thursday after blowing a four-goal third-period lead.

Smacktok pick lean: we like Thompson's points on Saturday in LA. He was in on five of Buffalo's seven goals Thursday, Krebs assisted on all three of his goals, and the Kings just gave up five goals to Ottawa.