Buffalo Sabres: Tage Thompson proving to be effective in other ways
By Sion Fawkes
Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson hasn’t found the back of the net often lately, but he’s still thriving in other avenues.
NHL players go on cold streaks. It’s part of the game and it comes with the territory. So the fact that Tage Thompson has just two goals in the last 10 games doesn’t surprise me. And I’m also not surprised that Tage is thriving elsewhere, notably with his eight assists in that same timeframe.
And you only need to look at Tuesday’s big win over the St. Louis Blues to see just how effective Tage has been on the ice in other areas of the game. That night, the Sabres stormed out to a 4-0 lead, and who was on the ice for each goal? Tage and his trusty companions, Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch.
Over the past year, the trio have become one of the NHL’s most formidable lines, and Tage has been the centerpiece. While goal-scoring was his thing for the first half of the year, opponents predictably caught on to him and started keying on his favorite lanes.
Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson still one of the NHL’s best
When I saw this occurring, I knew something had to give. Initially, I suggested using Tage as a decoy to try and throw off opponents. At minimum, the Sabres had to make a change.
And it seems as though that change has involved the All-Star center becoming more of a passer than a shooter at the moment. As we saw recently, such a change is working well.
We can also look at how effective Skinner and Tuch have been, as they are both enjoying five and six-game point streaks, respectively. But the chemistry goes beyond Tuch and Skinner as on Monday night, the Sabres sunk the Dallas Stars thanks to Tage’s overtime pass to Owen Power, who scored his first goal of the season in the win.
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Overall, Tage has become the team’s focal point. He showed us he can score goals in droves, but he’s also shown recently that he can also play the supporting actor role well, piling up eight assists over the past 10 contests and letting others on the team shine.
Article Source: Sabres’ Tage Thompson may not be scoring as many goals but he’s still piling up points by Mike Harrington.
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