Buffalo Sabers heart Tage Thompson scored 5 targets towards Columbus

Buffalo Sabers heart Tage Thompson is off to a robust begin to the 2022-2023 NHL season.

Entering play on Wednesday evening, the Sabers heart had already scored 16 targets, which tied him for sixth within the NHL, and added 18 assists to his credit score. His 34 factors had him inside the highest ten within the NHL.

Those rankings are about to vary.

Thompson scored 4 targets for the Sabers on Wednesday evening in Buffalo’s recreation towards the Columbus Blue Jackets, with all 4 targets coming within the first interval. He completed the evening with a surprising 5 targets in all, as Buffalo routed Columbus by a remaining rating of 9-4.

Thompson’s first aim got here on the 14:28 mark of the primary interval. With the Sabers already out to a 1-0 lead, winger Alex Tuch put a centering go proper in entrance of the web for Thompson, and the middle buried it previous Columbus goalie Joonas Korpisalo.

But he was simply getting began.

After Rasmus Dahlin scored to provide Buffalo a 3-0 lead — and Columbus pulled Korpisalo in favor of Elvis Merzlikins — Thompson netted his second of the primary interval. With simply over 12 minutes left within the first the Sabers broke out of their very own finish, with winger Jeff Skinner feeding Tuch, who put one other go on Thompson’s stick. The heart lifted a wrister over Thompson’s glove for his second of the evening.

It was Buffalo’s fourth aim on four-straight photographs.

Thompson’s third got here a couple of minutes later. With the Sabers on the ability play, Thompson blasted a one-timer previous Merzlikins for his first-period hat trick.

You can watch the primary three targets right here:

But Thompson was not carried out scoring.

His fourth aim got here later within the first interval. With Buffalo holding a 5-on-3 benefit, the Sabers cycled the puck round in entrance of Merzlikins, earlier than Thompson ripped one other one-timer previous the Columbus goalie, to provide Buffalo a 6-0 lead:

Skinner and Dahlin assisted on Thompson’s fourth of the evening.

The groups hit the locker rooms for the intermission with the Sabers holding a 6-0 lead, and the Blue Jackets questioning about probably a operating clock for the subsequent two durations. But Thompson was not carried out, nor have been the Sabers.

With underneath 4 minutes remaining within the second interval, Buffalo had a snug 6-2 lead. That’s when defenseman Jacob Bryson dug the puck out of the nook, getting it to Tuch simply contained in the blue line. Tuch despatched a cross-ice go to the tape of Thompson close to the purpose, and the middle put his fifth of the evening previous Merzlikins:

As you’ll be able to see, with that aim Thompson turned simply the second participant in franchise historical past to report 5 targets in a single evening, tying a mark set by Dave Andreychuk again in 1986.

Here is one other take a look at Thompson’s fifth aim:

Mike Kelly, of the NHL Network, famous that Thompson’s fifth aim gave him extra in a single evening than the majority of the NHL has over the complete season:

Thompson’s 4 first-period targets put him in quite uncommon firm. According to the NHL, it was simply the sixth time up to now 40 years {that a} participant notched 4 targets in any interval. The final time that occurred was again in 2017, when Patrick Marleau scored 4 targets within the third interval to energy the San Jose Sharks previous the Colorado Avalanche:

The second interval ended with Buffalo main the Blue Jackets 9-2.

Thompson entered the ultimate interval with an opportunity to web six targets in a recreation, which might make him the primary NHL participant since Darryl Sittler completed that feat again in 1976, for the Toronto Maple Leafs towards the Boston Bruins.

However, that sixth aim didn’t come. Thompson didn’t see a ton of ice time within the third interval, and didn’t get a shot off over the ultimate 20 minutes. Columbus did web their third and fourth targets of the evening — which on most nights can be sufficient to win — and the ultimate horn sounded with Buffalo on prime 9-4.

Still, with the 5 targets — and an help that got here on Buffalo’s first aim of the evening, from Dylan Cozens — Thompson recorded six factors on the evening. That put him only one shy of the franchise report for factors in a recreation, set by Gilbert Perreault again in 1976, when he scored a aim and added 5 assists in a recreation towards the California Golden Seals.

It was Thompson’s second six-point recreation for the Sabers. He scored six factors — three targets and three assists — on Halloween towards the Detroit Red Wings.

Not a foul begin to the season for Thompson, and it actually seems to be like the choice final yr to transfer him to heart full-time is paying off for the Sabers.