*Photo from the Buffalo News*
This game turned on its head quick. Alex Tuch had two assists, Tage Thompson had 4 goals, and the Buffalo Sabres defeated the New Jersey Devils with a 5-2 victory on Friday night in Buffalo.
With the Sabres playoff hopes fading, they stayed alive for a little longer with the win, their 6th in 10 games. Tuch extended his point streak to 7 games with his two assist game, but Thompson's natural hat trick and 4 goal game made the difference for the Sabres.
Tuch said after the game that "I don't think we got down on ourselves. I think we just tried to play a little simpler, get our energy up a little bit and it took us a little longer than wanted to. But all in all, I thought it was a good game by us and when we needed him to, beast was keeping them out. And we just tried to capitalize on some of the mistakes."
Max Willman started the scoring in this one, giving the Devils a 1-0 lead on his 3rd goal of the season with help from Chris Tierney and Luke Hughes. Jesper Bratt doubled it to 2-0 when he scored 10:31 into the first, his 24th goal of the season. Just 28 seconds into the second period, Thompson got the Sabres on the board and made it a 2-1 game.
Late in the second, Thompson struck again and tied the game 2-2 with the lone assist going to Tuch. At the 15:26 mark of the 3rd period, Tuch and Dahlin assisted on Thompson's 3rd goal of the game. In the final minute, both Thompson and JJ Peterka scored empty net goals, lifting the Sabres to the 5-2 victory.
Asked about falling behind two goals, Sabres goalie Devon Levi said "I knew there was still a lot of hockey to be played. It's easy to feel like it's the end of the world, you let in two quick ones, but it's when the mental toughness comes in. That's when you rely on your teammates and you kind of come together as a group and just chip away at it and try to get back into the game. I had no doubt in the boys."
It was Levi who got the start between the pipes for the Sabres, getting the win as his record rose to 10-8-2 in 21 starts this season. Levi stopped 28 of the 30 shots the Devils sent his way, good for a solid .933 save percentage.
Getting the start in net for the Devils was Jake Allen, who couldn't outduel Levi and fell to 10-15-3 over 28 starts. Allen turned aside 31 out of the 34 shots on goal the Sabres tested him with, recording a .912 save percentage.
Devils captain Nico Hischier said of the loss that "We know that was a game we should have taken advantage of. I don’t think there are any excuses. I think if you look at the game, we’ve just got to find a way to win against certain teams and we haven’t done that all year. It should not happen. Just another immature performance by us."
The Sabres get back in action on Saturday night as they finish a back to back, taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen set to start in goal. The Devils don't play again until they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday with Allen expected to start.
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