Tage Thompson leads Sabres in 3rd straight win, 'good' after hit to head

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Tage Thompson had a goal and two assists before leaving the game in the third period after taking a check to the head, and the Buffalo Sabres held on to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Sunday.

JJ Peterka, Ryan McLeod and Jason Zucker also scored for the Sabres, who won their third in a row. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 21 saves.

Thompson passed concussion-related tests after being struck in the head by Devils forward Stefan Noesen, coach Lindy Ruff said.

Ruff was unhappy with the hit, while saying “Tage is good. Passed all the tests.”

Noesen faces potential further discipline after being issued a match penalty for elbowing Thompson in the face. The NHL will determine whether he had intent to injure Thompson on the play that happened at 5:11 into the third period.

Thompson was lunging for the puck near the blue line when Noesen knocked it away and continued charging into Thompson. The hit knocked Thompson’s helmet off and spun him around. Buffalo’s top scorer was down on the ice for a moment before rising to one knee and skating off the ice on his way to the dressing room.

Noesen did not speak to reporters after the game. Devils coach Sheldon Keefe did not address the hit in his postgame comments.

“That penalty was well-deserved,” Ruff said. “I know I had a couple guys that wanted to go after him right away. And where we were at in the game, there was going to be a time to even the score.”

The Sabres did not respond on the ice. Jack Hughes scored a short-handed goal 21 seconds after Noesen’s penalty to get the Devils within a goal. The Sabres did kill two penalties in the third to avoid losing for the seventh time this season when holding a multi-goal lead.

“Our response is we won,” said Zucker, who scored on a pass from Thompson to give the Sabres a 4-1 lead late in the second period. “(Noesen) made two plays that cost their team the win. So we’ll take that all day.”

Noesen was trailing the play on Buffalo’s fourth goal and pushed Zucker into the net after he scored.

“Why isn’t there a call after he gets cross-checked after he scores a goal?” Ruff said. “In a game where there’s all kinds of strange calls, why isn’t there a call on that?”

Thompson had a goal and two assists in helping the Eastern Conference’s last-place team win their third game in a row. Thompson’s 26 goals rank among the top 10 in the NHL, and he leads the Sabres with 48 points in 47 games.

Paul Cotter scored two goals for the Devils in the opener of a two-game trip. Jack Hughes had a short-handed goal 21 seconds after Noesen’s penalty to get the Devils within a goal. Jake Allen stopped 23 of 27 shots before getting pulled late in the second period. Nico Daws made seven saves.

After Thompson scored his 26th of the season, Peterka and McLeod put the Sabres in front 3-0 by the end of the first period.

McLeod chipped the puck away from New Jersey’s Dougie Hamilton along the wall in the defensive zone leading to his short-handed breakaway, and beat Allen with a backhand to give Buffalo a three-goal lead with 29 seconds remaining in the first period.

Rasmus Dahlin had two assists to move ahead of Mike Ramsey for the second-most points among Sabres defenseman with 331.

Buffalo is on a three-game win streak for the fifth time this season. They have not won four in a row since January 2023.

The Sabres conclude a four-game homestand against Columbus on Tuesday.