Thompson completed his 10th NHL hat trick by scoring 15 seconds apart late in the second period to give Buffalo a two-goal lead after it twice trailed by two goals in the first period.
Zach Benson had a goal and two assists, Peyton Krebs had three assists and Jack Quinn scored for the Sabres (6-4-3), who won their second in a row and have points in the first three of a four-game road trip (2-0-1). Rasmus Dahlin had two assists, and Colten Ellis made 29 saves.
Buffalo defenseman Olen Zellweger had an assist in his first game against his former team after being acquired from Anaheim on June 26.
Cutter Gauthier scored two power-play goals, Beckett Sennecke had a goal and an assist and Leo Carlsson had three assists for the Ducks (5-7-1), who have lost seven of eight (1-6-1), including a 6-5 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday after blowing a three-goal lead with 7:37 remaining in regulation. Jackson LaCombe had two assists, and Ville Husso allowed seven goals on 30 shots.
Roger McQueen, the No. 10 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, scored his first NHL goal for Anaheim.
Trailing 3-1 midway through the first period, Buffalo scored six straight goals to take a 7-3 lead.
Noah Ostlund’s power-play goal cut it to 3-2 at 11:39, scoring from the right circle on a one-timer.
Thompson tied it 3-3 at 15:32 when he entered the offensive zone with speed and went around Ducks defenseman Tristan Luneau before scoring from in close.
Thompson’s second goal gave the Sabres a 4-3 lead at 18:36 of the second period with a one-timer from the top of the right circle following a face-off win. He completed the natural hat trick with another drive to the net at 18:51 to extend it to 5-3, finishing with a backhand from in close.
Jack Quinn scored on the power play to make it 6-3 at 1:56 of the third period after redirecting a pass into the net. Benson scored on a breakaway to push it to 7-3 at 6:37.
Gauthier’s second power-play goal of the game to made it 7-4 at 7:24.
Luneau then scored with Husso pulled for the extra skater to make it 7-5 with 1:08 left and Sennecke did the same with 30 seconds left to cut it to 7-6.
Mikael Granlund gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead at 1:57 of the first period on a 5-on-3 power play, redirecting the puck into the net after it slid between his legs.
Gauthier extended it to 2-0 at 2:54, scoring with a one-timer from the right circle during the second penalty.
Tyson Kozak cut it to 2-1 at 10:03 when he scored on a one-timer from just inside the blue line with traffic in front of Husso.
McQueen made it 3-1 just 35 seconds later when the puck caromed to him off the end boards and he shot it into the net from the right hash marks.
