Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres scored five unanswered goals after falling behind 2-0 in the first period for a big comeback win over the New Jersey Devils, 5-2, on Friday night at KeyBank Center.
Tage Thompson led the way for the Sabres with his second-career four-goal outing, while Devon Levi was strong in net with 28 saves in the victory.
The Devils took grabbed the early lead with former Sabres draft pick Max Willman tipping a point shot that then bounced off a Sabres defender and in through Levi just three minutes into the game.
Then just past the midway point of the opening period, Jesper Bratt extended the New Jersey lead to 2-0 with a shot that, once again, went in off a Sabres player past Levi.
The Sabres got into some penalty trouble late in the period, as Bowen Byram and Alex Tuch both went off for infractions. However, Buffalo was able to successfully kill off the 5-on-3 advantage for the Devils to keep it a two-goal game.
Thompson managed to cut into the New Jersey lead just 28 seconds into the second period, as he jumped on a turnover at the blue line and put home a wrister from the faceoff circle.
Later in the second period, Thompson tied the game at 2-2 on another nice wrist shot, this time on a great feed from Alex Tuch.
The game remained tied for most of the third period until Thompson completed the natural hat-trick to give Buffalo its first lead of the night, 3-2, with less than five minutes left in regulation.
The Sabres capped off the night with a pair of empty-net tallies, as JJ Peterka extended the lead to 4-2 in the final minute of regulation. Then just before time expired in the game, Thompson scored his fourth goal of the night to put an exclamation point on the 5-2 win.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: NONE
NJD: 3:00 - Max Willman (3) (Luke Hughes, Chris Tierney); 10:31 - Jesper Bratt (24) (Nico Hischier, Time Meier)
Second Period:
BUF: 0:28 - Tage Thompson (23) (Unassisted); 17:29 - Tage Thompson (24) (Alex Tuch)
NJD: NONE
Third Period:
BUF: 15:26 - Tage Thompson (25) (Rasmus Dahlin, Alex Tuch); 19:23 - JJ Peterka (26) ENG (Dylan Cozens, Owen Power); 19:54 - Tage Thompson (26) ENG (Henri Jokiharju)
NJD: NONE
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Losi & Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Tage Thompson - BUF
2.) Devon Levi - BUF
3.) Alex Tuch - BUF
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What's next:
The Sabres get right back at it Saturday night as they welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs to KeyBank Center for a 7 p.m. ET puck drop. Catch all of the action on WGR Sports Radio 550, starting with pregame coverage at 6 p.m. ET with Brian Koziol.