Buffalo Sabres: Can Tage Thompson hit the 60-goal mark?
By Sion Fawkes
Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson pulled off yet another hat trick in last night’s win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, giving him 39 goals on the year.
Earlier in the season, I speculated whether Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson would hit the 100-point mark. Right now, he’s on pace for 110 points, and 57 goals.
Tage, like any player, has his dry spells. But with four goals scored in two of his last four contests (he also scored one against the Anaheim Ducks), Tage’s high-octane game might just be making a comeback.
Last night, the Sabres defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, and much of that involved creating space for and getting the puck to Tage. One reason the Sabres slowed down a little with their high-octane prowess stemmed from the fact opponents keyed on Buffalo’s star player, forcing them into making erratic decisions with the puck.
But that didn’t happen last night. And if the Sabres continue to find creative ways for Tage to get open, and if he finds solid looks in front of the net, he could very well break through the 60-goal threshold. And if he does that, it wouldn’t just account for one of the best seasons in recent memory for the franchise, but one of the best in team history.
Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson can hit 60 goals
To even discuss this topic is nothing short of amazing. Just two seasons ago, Tage had just 14 points in 38 games, or 30 over an 82-game stretch. And these days, we’re sitting here and wondering whether he will score 60 goals, let alone points (75 so far in 2022-23).
Even late last season, during the final week, we were wondering whether he’d end up with 40. He fell two shy of that number, which marked a career high for one of the game’s elite centers until last night when he found the net for the 39th time.
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So can Tage hit the 60-goal mark? With 26 games to go, he’ll need to find twine more often than he has, but if he gets open in space and keeps taking shots when he gets good looks, he can definitely get there. My prediction? I’m going to get bold and say, yes, Tage will end the season with 60 goals.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)
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