Thompson hat trick leads Sabres to 5-point victory over Canadiens

The Buffalo Sabres announced a 5-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens, with Tage Thompson recording his ninth career hat trick and reaching the 200-goal milestone.

Thompson tallied three goals and two assists in the win. Josh Doan contributed a goal and assist, while Alex Tuch also found the net for Buffalo.

Colten Ellis made 20 saves for the Sabres.

The victory extends Buffalo’s surge to 15-2 over their past 17 games. At 26-16-4, the Sabres have accumulated 56 points through 47 games – their best start since going 30-11-6 over the same span in 2009-10.

Montreal got goals from Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Ivan Demidov. Caufield and Suzuki each added an assist.

Rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler stopped 22 shots for the Canadiens.

The game remained tied through two periods before Thompson scored the decisive goal 5:12 into the third period. Peyton Krebs kept the puck in Montreal’s zone, allowing Doan to retrieve it in the right circle and feed Thompson for a shot inside the left post.

Thompson completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal.

Buffalo has won 10 of 12 home games this season. The victory also ended the Sabres’ 0-4-2 home skid against Montreal dating back to November 26, 2022.

The Canadiens entered the game following a 3-2 overtime loss at Washington on Tuesday. Montreal had posted an 8-2-4 record since their last consecutive losses.

The Sabres celebrated the 20th anniversary of their 2005-06 team that reached the Eastern Conference finals before falling to eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina in Game 7.

Several alumni attended the ceremony, including goaltender Ryan Miller, forwards Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville, and defenseman Jay McKee.

Miller surprised Vanek and Pominville by announcing their induction into the Sabres Hall of Fame.

Philadelphia Flyers general manager Danny Briere, who co-captained that 2005-06 team, addressed fans through a taped message on the video scoreboard.