The Buffalo Sabres had another late-night start as they continued their West Coast trip with a game against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night. It was a high-scoring game with both teams having plenty of chances but the Sabres in the end, were able to hold on to a 7-6 win.
This game got off to a fast start but for the Ducks as they would score twice in the first three minutes due to unfortunate penalties by the Sabres. However, the Sabres were able to get back into it with Tyson Kozak scoring his first goal of the season to make it 2-1.
The Ducks responded with another goal shortly after that to get their two goal lead back and make it 3-1. It was all Sabres, but mostly Tage Thompson, from that point and through the second period as the Sabres' top forward would score three straight goals.
It would be the second straight game that the Sabres took a lead into the third period and they would add two more to push the lead to 7-3. They were going to need every one of those goals as the Ducks would score three straight and make it 7-6 with about 30 seconds left.
The Sabres would be able to hold onto that lead with a big save by Colten Ellis and secure the win. The Sabres are now 6-4-3 on the season and these are some of the key takeaways from the game on Thursday night.
Buffalo Sabres overcome a horrible start and finish against the Ducks
The game for the Sabres probably couldn't have started any worse than it did against the Ducks. Olen Zellweger would be called for a holding penalty 35 seconds into the game and Zach Benson would be called for tripping about a minute after that.
The Ducks would end up turning those two penalties into goals and had a 2-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
However, the Sabres were able to regroup and ended up scoring three goals before the period was over. This was the most goals they had in a first period this season, and they had only 10 total through 12 games.
The Sabres had a stretch where they would score five straight goals in this game and built a 7-3 lead early in the third period. In this game, they needed every single one of those goals as the Ducks would score three, including two in about 40 seconds in the closing minutes of the third period.
Tage Thompson with his best game of the season
Entering the game against the Anaheim Ducks, Tage Thompson had five goals on the season, had yet to have a game with more than one goal, and was currently in a stretch with only one goal total over the past six games. On Thursday night, Thompson broke out of that slump when the Sabres needed it most, as he had three goals and two assists for his first hat trick since January 15th, 2026.
Thompson's first goal was in the first period and helped overcome that slow start, as it would tie the game at three before the end of the period. In the second period, neither team was really scoring much but then Thompson would score two goals in 14 seconds that gave the Sabres' lead going into the third period.
TAGE THOMPSON HATTY! 🎩🎩🎩#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/Dfjbur6aVf
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) October 30, 2026
One of the things that was notable in this game is that on two of those goals, Tage Thompson drove the puck right to the front of the net. While Thompson has one of the strongest shots in the NHL, when he is crashing the net like he did tonight, he is really tough to beat.
Buffalo Sabres might have found their best top line combination
Prior to the game against the Ducks, Lindy Ruff announced that Konsta Helenius returned to Buffalo after suffering an upper-body injury against the San Jose Sharks. The team was forced to once again shuffle their lines and, against the Ducks, moved Peyton Krebs to the top line with Tage Thompson and Zach Benson.
It was an impressive performance from this trio, as Thompson had his five points, while Zach Benson had a goal and two assists, with Krebs chipping in with three assists. According to Natural Stat Trick, this line had a CF% of 88.24% and had eight scoring chances when on the ice compared to the Ducks' two.
The Sabres are going to almost certainly keep this line together for their game against the Kings but if they continue to play like this, it will be more than just a short-term fix.
Power play delivers while penalty kill continues to struggle
The Buffalo Sabres special teams has been awful this season and among the league worst but on Thursday night, while the penalty kill struggled their power play looked actually productive. For only the second time this season, the Sabres had multiple power play goals as Noah Ostlund would score one in the first and Jack Quinn added one in the third.
While the Sabres would score two power play goals on four opportunities, the Anaheim Ducks would convert three of their four power play chances into goals. It was one of the reasons they got off to such a great start and in the third period was what put the game within reach as it cut the Sabres lead to three.
After the game against the Ducks, the Sabres are now 28th in both power play percentage (13.6%) and penalty kill (67.4%).
The Buffalo Sabres will continue their road trip on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings as they look for their third straight road win on this trip.
Add us as a preferred source on Google