'When we play with confidence, good things happen' | Sabres beat Habs 4-1

Tage Thompson once again led the way for the Buffalo Sabres as the team snapped a four-game losing streak Friday night.
Thompson scored twice to up his team-high total to 10 in Buffalo's 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens at KeyBank Center. Cody Eakin (1+1), Jeff Skinner (0+2) and Victor Olofsson (0+2) also had multi-point nights for the Sabres.
Kyle Okposo scored shorthanded - the second shorthanded goal of his career - and Dustin Tokarski made 25 saves to earn his fourth win of the season.

Before Thompson's second goal early in the third period, he took a big hit from Alexander Romanov. He then skated up the ice, tapped his stick on the ice to signal Jeff Skinner and then ripped Skinner's pass home to essentially put the game away.
On his way back to the bench, he made sure to stare Romanov down.
"I was a little fired up after I got hit there so it was a nice way to pay him back a little bit. It's good. I think when we play with confidence, good things happen," Thompson said. "I thought tonight, our whole team did that - played with a lot confidence, made a lot of good plays with the puck exiting the zone. It's fun to play when you're playing like that."
Through 20 games, Thompson has already set career highs in goals (10) and points (15). Both of those totals lead the Sabres this year.

"We're all witnessing the benefit of him gaining experience," head coach Don Granato said. "It's turning in the form of confidence each and every day. Even the second goal he scored tonight, he took a big hit. It did nothing but make him more possessed and determined and banging his stick. He wanted to score again, and he did immediately after the hit.
"And that shows he was a little ticked off taking the hit, and he said, 'I'm going to take matters into my own hands here.' Obviously, responded with a goal, and it was a big goal."

Thompson skated 17:08 against Montreal, which is just below his season average of 17:37, the best among Sabres forwards this year. He averaged just 13:52 of ice time in 38 games last season. Now with more ice time and a bigger role, the veteran of only 164 games producing at the NHL level like never before.
"I feel like I've always entered games with the mindset of 'I'm going to score.' I think now I'm getting a lot of opportunity and they're going in for me," Thompson said. "I think the confidence is continuing to grow and that's just the product of guys playing good hockey around me, too.
"As a group, I think we've been playing good. Obviously haven't gotten a ton of the results lately we've wanted, but I think we've done a lot of good things. A lot of that success is coming from the guys around me."

About those teammates…

Thompson has been on a line with Skinner and Olofsson the last few games. Skinner recorded two assists Friday and Olofsson has been having a great year overall, even while missing eight games due to injury.
Olofsson has 13 points in 12 games this year. All but three of those points have been scored at even strength.
Skinner has recorded 12 points through 20 games.

Turning the tide

After Montreal tied the game late in the first period Buffalo then responded with a pair of goals by Eakin and Okposo. Eakin buried a great pass from Vinnie Hinostroza 9:49 into the second and then Okposo, skating down the ice with Eakin, scored on his own rebound on a shorthanded attempt to make it 3-1 with 4:15 to go.

The team was shorthanded for four minutes after Brett Murray, who was recalled from Rochester earlier in the day, was called for a high-sticking double minor.
"You don't want to see the four minutes, that's tough. There are chances to go. You have to be smart when and when not to go," Eakin said. "We did a good job of there. It turned into a 2-on-1 and it turned into a goal with a good second effort by Okie. It's a big momentum shift."
The Sabres did not sit back in the third, outshooting Montreal 13-9 in the final 20. Thompson's second goal came at the 3:29 mark of the third.

Tokarski bounces back

Tokarski rebounded from a recent stretch of tough games with a solid performance. He made 24 stops in 40 minutes of relief on Wednesday and responded with 25 saves on 26 shots against the Habs.
"I loved the way he looked," Granato said. "Confident, he absorbed pucks, and any rebounds or any pucks that went off of him were in the corner for the most part, not front. But again, he reads the shot selection very well. And he did all that tonight."

What's next

The Sabres will face the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. from Little Caesars Arena. Catch the game on MSG and WGR 550. Pregame coverage is at 6:30 on MSG.
Buffalo's next home game is Monday night against the Seattle Kraken. It's Hockey Fights Cancer Night as well. Tickets are on sale now.