*Photo from TSN*
There's at least a portion of the Ryan O'Reilly trade that is paying dividends for the Buffalo Sabres, and his name is Tage Thompson, who is on another level. Thompson scored twice in regulation, added the winner in the shootout, and the Sabres defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 4-3 shootout win in Buffalo on Wednesday night.
With the win, the Sabres improve their record to 23-33-8 on the season, still remaining in 6th place in the Atlantic. They picked up their 3rd win in a row Wednesday night, marking the first time they've won 3 games in a row since they started the season 3-0-0.
Sabres head coach Don Granato said of the better play that "We're playing much better than we were earlier in the year. But absolutely, the psyche component didn't affect us like it would've a couple months ago, and we went right back to execution. Our execution's been really good. There was a little bit of a period, a sequence in the second period where I thought we lost a little, there was a little swing in momentum, but it was only a couple shifts and we got right back to our game."
It was Thompson who scored the only goal of the first period, making it 1-0 Sabres 17:15 into the game. On the power play to start the second period, Sidney Crosby tied it for the Penguins just 26 seconds into the second period. At the 15:56 mark of the second, Zemgus Girgensons put the Sabres ahead 2-1, before Evgeni Malkin scored late in the period to make it a 2-2 game.
Thompson put the Sabres right back in front with his 27th goal of the season, coming just 1:01 into the 3rd period, assisted by Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch. Kris Letang retied the game for the Penguins at the 15:04 mark of the 3rd, slipping one through on the power play. In the shootout, the Penguins couldn't score, while Tuch and Thompson scored for the Sabres.
After the game, Thompson said that "We were definitely deserving of a win there. I think, obviously, the results, they usually take care of themselves. Sometimes you're not going to get the results at the end of the game, but regardless of that, I think we can all look each other in the eyes and say that we gave it our all. I think we deserved it and we came out on top, so it was good."
Getting the start was Craig Anderson for the Sabres, who picked up career win number 303. Anderson put up a good outing, saving 23 of the 26 Pittsburgh shots he faced, posting a .885 save percentage. With the win, Anderson's record improves to 12-9-0 in 21 starts on the season.
Playing on the second half of a back to back, Casey DeSmith got the start for the Penguins. Getting the OT loss, DeSmith stopped 30 of the 33 shots on goal he faced from Buffalo, good for a .909 save percentage. With the loss, DeSmith's record drops to 6-4-4 on the season.
Letang said of the shootout loss that "We battled hard in the third to get that point. I think it was important to get it, especially with the race that we're in right now for home ice, and at the top it's pretty tight. It wasn't our best, that's for sure."
Up next, the Sabres play host to the Washington Capitals on Friday night, with Dustin Tokarski likely to draw the start. The Penguins hit the road to face the New York Rangers, with Tristan Jarry to get the start.
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