Thompson gets hat trick, 2 assists for Sabres in win against Canadiens

BUFFALO -- Tage Thompson had a hat trick and two assists for the Buffalo Sabres in a 5-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens at KeyBank Center on Thursday.

Josh Doan had a goal and an assist, and Noah Ostlund had two assists for the Sabres (26-16-4), who won for the 15th time in their past 17 games. Colten Ellis made 20 saves.

“There’s nothing that beats winning,” Thompson said. “This is the most fun I think I’ve had here my entire career. We’ve got something really good going, and it doesn’t feel fabricated. It feels real, and I think everyone in the room believes it as well.”

Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki each had a goal and an assist, and Jacob Fowler made 22 saves for the Canadiens (26-15-7), who have lost three of four (1-2-1). Lane Hutson had two assists.

“It was a good game. It was a tight game on both sides,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “The margin is small. I liked our effort. Obviously you’d like a better result but overall, the guys worked.”

Thompson’s second goal of the night, and 200th of his NHL career, put Buffalo in front 4-3 at 5:12 of the third period. He took a pass from Doan in the slot and beat Fowler inside the left post.

He completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 18:20.

“I think that’s what every athlete lives for,” Thompson said. “We’re all competitors, we want to be the best all the time and when the stakes get raised, I think everyone wants to be the guy that leads the team. I think that’s what makes you a good player.

“If you fold in those circumstances, maybe it’s not for you, so I think you’ve just got to embrace it and enjoy the challenge. And I think we’ve got a lot of guys in here that enjoy that challenge and have done a really good job of doing it.”

Caufield gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 3:11 of the first period. He was uncovered in the neutral zone to take a stretch pass from Noah Dobson up to the left circle and scored off the rebound after Ellis stopped his first shot.

Thompson tied it 1-1 on the power play, putting a snap shot through Alexandre Carrier’s legs and beating Fowler short side at 4:05.

Doan’s power-play goal made it 2-1 for Buffalo at 10:30. He took the puck from the corner and roofed it under the bar on the near side.

The Sabres are 4-for-10 on the man-advantage in their past two games after a 1-for-21 slump in their previous 10 games.

“Efficiency’s pretty hot,” Sabres forward Alex Tuch said. “Our power play was buzzing. A lot of opportunities like that, a couple more tonight. ‘Doaner,’ heck of a play. 'Tommer,' great shot. It was everybody rolling and they were feeling it and really good, too.”

Ivan Demidov took a feed from Hutson and one-timed it from the right circle on a 5-on-3 power play to tie it 2-2 at 14:20.

Suzuki put the Canadiens ahead 3-2 with another power-play goal at 3:05 of the second period, putting a rebound into an open net after Ellis couldn’t get over in time.

Montreal entered the game 3-for-30 on the power play in its previous 10 games.

“We haven’t been great lately, just trying to get that going again to help our team win,” Suzuki said. “We scored a couple (but) just didn’t do enough 5-on-5 and on the (penalty) kill.”

Tuch’s one-timer from the left circle off a pass from Thompson beat Fowler high over his left shoulder to tie it 3-3 at 8:55.

NOTES: Hutson had his 25th multiassist game in his 132nd career game, second fastest by a defenseman in NHL history behind Mark Howe (119 games). He also became the second fastest defenseman to 100 assists after Sergei Zubov (127 games). … Demidov has 40 points (11 goals, 29 assists) in 48 games to tie Chris Chelios for fifth fewest games to reach the mark by a rookie in Canadiens history. … Thompson’s hat trick was the ninth of his NHL career, tying Dave Andreychuk for fifth most in Sabres history. … Thompson tied Patrick Kane for second most hat tricks among active American players, trailing only Auston Matthews (14). … Buffalo won its eighth game since the NHL’s holiday break, second most among all teams behind the Tampa Bay Lightning (nine). … Before the game, the Sabres honored their 2005-06 team as part of Reunion Night, with 18 players getting introduced at center ice.