Thompson has hat trick, six points in Sabers win over Red Wings

BUFFALO — Days Thompson had a hat trick and three assists, and the Buffalo Sabers defeated the Detroit Red Wings 8-3 on Monday at the KeyBank Center.

“I think of course it’s always a good feeling to get the win, especially an 8-3,” said Thompson. “I thought we played a really good game all round, but of course it’s a nice feeling when you score, contribute to the scorer’s report. It’s nice.”

Video: DET@BUF: Thompson scores a hat trick and 3 assists

Jeff Skinner had a goal and two assists, Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and an assist, and Kyle Okposo had two assists for the Sabers (6-3-0), who have won five of their last seven games. Eric Comrie made 15 saves for his first win in three starts.

Olli Maatta, David Peron and Dylan Larkin scored for the Red Wings (4-3-2) who have lost three of four. Alex Nedeljkovic Made 38 saves.

“We didn’t show up and they showed up,” Larkin said. “No matter what level you play hockey at, if you don’t show up it becomes embarrassing. We must find it; ‘it’ means pride in. They come into the games, a game with a goal of the third [period], Two-goal game, like, let’s go, let’s win battles, let’s make it a balanced game. We just lost way too many fights tonight.”

Thompson gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead after 16:52 of the first period by giving Skinner a cross-ice pass once in the left faceoff circle.

Maatta tied it 1-1 at 1:26 of the second period, when Andrew Copp sent a backhand pass from behind the net to the defender at the top of the left circle.

Jack Quinn put the Sabers back in front at 5:22 with a one-timer from the right circle for his first goal of the season, 2-1.

Skinner extended to 3-1 at 14:26 when Thompson found him alone on his 300th NHL goal.

“It’s nice, I think,” Skinner said of the milestone. “It means I’ve been at it for a while I guess. But I think for me if you don’t have five guys on the same side you won’t score goals. Obviously it means you’ve had some good chemistry with the guys over the years. I probably had some open nets, probably some good passes from some linemates.

Video: DET@BUF: Skinner buries a shot all by himself for the 300th

Thompson made it 4-1 at 6:30 p.m., scoring a power play from the slot. He had nine shots on goal on Monday and 25 in the last three games

“I think the confidence was there from the start of the season. I think maybe I didn’t get enough shots in the first three games, maybe I was a little too sweet,” Thompson said. “I was just trying to simplify pucks and get them into the net, whether it’s a clear lane to the net or not. Just find ways to get it to the net and from there, if it doesn’t go in, at least it creates a rebound and we get possession from that.”

Perron cut it to 4-2 with 57 seconds left in the period, and Larkin made it 4-3 at 4:19 of the third when his attempted pass bounced off the Buffalo defender Owen power‘Skate back to him at the bottom of the right circle for the outnumbered goal.

Dahlin restored the two-goal lead to 5-3 at 12:53 p.m. on a power play.

“You get one [power play] there, kill the momentum,” Larkin said. “The pucks in our net and then the embarrassment started.”

Dylan Cozens scored short touch from the right circle to make it 6-3 at 14:47.

Video: DET@BUF: Cozens fires a spectacular shot into the net

Thompson completed the hat trick at 15:58 with a dangle in the slot to make it 7:3.

“It’s fun to see ‘Tommer’, to have history with him, to see him when he was 16, to see him push through to this point in his career,” said Sabers coach Don Granato.

“What stands out is the excitement of the bench and the players around him. It really tells you who he is. … To see that and to see a kid who has taken so long to thrive and be recognized for his talent that he is, to see him struggling through and now starting to get rewards for that work, it definitely fun.”

Thompson, who netted every last three goals (two goals, one assist) in Saturday’s 4-3 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks, becomes the second player in Sabers history to have a point since Pat LaFontaine scored eight goals in a row in 1992–93.

“I wasn’t aware of that statistic, but it’s pretty cool,” Thompson said. “Obviously he’s one of the best playing the game, so it’s a pretty cool feeling to be mentioned in the same breath.”

Rasmus Asplund scored 39 seconds before the end to make it 8:3.

“We hung our goalie out to dry tonight, that is, that [stinks]’ Cop said. “You make it 5-3, OK, 6-3, but beyond that you can’t let it go. Just not acceptable.”

REMARKS: Thompson became the sixth player in Sabers history to have six points in a game and the first since LaFontaine on February 10, 1993 (one goal, five assists). His hat-trick is the 22nd in NHL history on Halloween and the first since the Calgary Flames’ Michael Frolik in 2015. …Okposo has multiple points in consecutive for the first time since Jan. 9-18, 2018 (three games). To play. … Larkin scored his first goal from a man down since Oct. 30, 2018.