(WGR 550) – If the Montreal Canadiens wanted to beat the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, all they had to do was make sure the Tage Thompson line stayed quiet.
They didn’t even come close, as Jeff Skinner had four goals and an assist, Alex Tuch had three assists, and Tage Thompson had a goal, giving the line five goals and four assists for nine points in a 5-3 win.
Skinner’s fourth goal gave him 20 on the season, and all the credit goes to him, because he put in the work.
Sabres head coach Don Granato has said Skinner went home and did the things necessary to get himself in better shape and ready for the upcoming season. He has said Skinner’s practice habits are better, and you’re seeing the results.
Skinner had only scored in one game out of his last eight, but he tends to score in streaks and has done that all season.
Tuch has six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 15 games with the Sabres, while Thompson has points in four-straight games, and 15 points in his last 13 games.
Craig Anderson made 28 saves for the 297th win of his NHL career. That moves the 40-year-old netminder into 40th place on the all-time NHL wins chart.
When you have a line like Thompson’s, the Sabres would be a much more dangerous team if they could put together another scoring line. Dylan Cozens centered Peyton Krebs and Victor Olofsson in this game, but they turned the puck over a lot and were just not good.
With that being said, I like the makeup of that line and I wouldn’t break it up just because it didn’t work in this game.
Sunday was the first time in eight games the Sabres were perfect on the penalty kill. They also scored a power play goal, using special teams to get the win.
It was a rough game for defenseman Casey Fitzgerald, especially when it came to puck management. However, Jacob Bryson got back into the lineup and had a really nice bounce-back game.
Six of the Sabres' last seven wins have come on the road, but they’ll get a chance to improve on that with three home games coming up this week.
The Sabres have Monday off and then host the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
