Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, and Ryan McLeod all scored multiple goals in the Sabres blowout win over the NY Rangers on Saturday. But wow, you can’t help but turn your attention to Tage at this point, whose experience at last week’s 4 Nations Face-Off was relegated to emergency backup status.
Initially, Tage wasn’t selected for Team USA, but a few injuries led to him getting the phone call to be on standby in case of an injury. Tage was never needed, and all he could do was watch helplessly as Team Canada took the tournament.
But hey, at least he hasn’t lost that edge to his game if last night’s performance vs. the Rangers showed us anything. Overall, Tage was hot, scoring two goals and putting up three points in the six-goal win, giving him 28 on the season.
Tage Thompson shows no signs of slowing down and is sending a message
For those of you who thought Tage got a raw deal, you can at least rest assured he’s not stopping just because the 4 Nations Face-Off is in the history books and that the Sabres need a lot of luck just to claw into the playoffs.
Yeah, they’re off to a good start, and they’ll need Tage’s heroics to at least stay competitive from now until mid-April. And it’s clear he’s answering the call, as expected. Should Tage continue on this pace, he’ll find the net 44 times, three fewer than what he snagged during that epic 2022-23 season when he scored 47 goals.
But if he keeps up his current trajectory, don’t be surprised if Tage ends up surpassing the 47-goal mark. And if he does, it’ll be tough to leave him off of any national team, as they’ll need someone with his length, agility, shot velocity, and accuracy if they plan on avenging that loss to Canada perhaps starting next season at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Could Tage have changed the outcome at the 4 Nations?
We’ll never know, but with arguably the hardest shot in the game and more reach than most of even the best players, to say there was a chance would be an understatement. Tage would have at least used those abilities to his advantage, and he’d have fared just fine in a best-on-best tournament.
Should he sneak his way onto Team USA for the Olympics, we’ll have more insights, and maybe even lean toward ‘yes’ should Tage enjoy a strong two weeks. Until then, we can only speculate if Tage would have made a difference.
But with 28 goals so far and the fact he’d been playing lights-out hockey since that snub from the 4 Nations Face-Off, it’s easy to say that general manager Bill Guerin lit a fire in Tage. We’ll see if that fire continues when it’s time to select teams for the 2026 Winter Olympics, and if Tage gets a chance to help redeem the Americans.