Sabres Outlast Ducks 7-6 in High-Scoring NHL Thriller

The Buffalo Sabres defeated the Anaheim Ducks 7-6 in a wild NHL matchup at the Honda Center on Thursday night, overcoming an early two-goal deficit and holding off a late surge. With the victory, the Sabres improved their record to 6-4-3 and moved to 2-0-1 on their current four-game road trip, while the Ducks dropped their seventh game in their last eight outings.

Tage Thompson spearheaded the Buffalo offense with a stellar five-point performance, netting three goals and adding two assists. His tenth career NHL hat trick tied him with Alexander Mogilny and Danny Gare for the third-most hat tricks in franchise history. Thompson scored twice in a span of 15 seconds during the second period before completing his hat trick on a breakaway.

The game started strongly for Anaheim, which jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first period. Roger McQueen scored his first career NHL goal off a rebound in the slot, and Cutter Gauthier ended a nine-game scoring drought by netting two goals for the Ducks. Mikael Granlund and Tristan Luneau also contributed goals, while Beckett Sennecke added a late goal and an assist as Anaheim attempted a furious comeback.

Despite the early deficit, Buffalo responded by scoring six consecutive goals over a 35-minute span. In addition to Thompson's offensive explosion, Zach Benson posted a goal and two assists, while Tyson Kozak, Noah Ostlund, and Jack Quinn also found the back of the net for the Sabres. Peyton Krebs contributed significantly with three assists, including a faceoff win that led directly to Thompson's crucial second-period one-timer.

The Ducks made things interesting in the final minutes with goaltender Ville Husso pulled for an extra attacker. Tristan Luneau and Beckett Sennecke scored within the last 1:08 of regulation, cutting the deficit to a single goal, but the Sabres managed to run out the clock and secure the win. Colten Ellis stopped 28 shots for Buffalo, while Husso recorded 23 saves for Anaheim.

Anaheim entered the contest looking to bounce back from a heartbreaking collapse earlier in the week against the Vancouver Canucks, where they surrendered a three-goal lead late in regulation before losing in overtime. Head coach Joel Quenneville's squad fought hard to generate offense, but defensive vulnerabilities continued to plague the team, which is currently playing without injured defensemen Pavel Mintyukov and Ian Moore.