Tage Thompson scored his 39th and 40th goals of the season and the Buffalo Sabres clinched the Atlantic Division title with a 5-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Monday.
The Sabres are now locked in as the No. 2 overall seed in the Eastern Conference and will face whichever team finishes in the top wild card spot between Boston and Ottawa. Boston currently holds that spot, one point ahead of Ottawa with one game remaining for each team.
Buffalo has won its seventh division title and first since 2009-10. The Sabres also won their 50th game of the season, joining the 2005-06 and 2006-07 teams as the only groups to accomplish that feat in franchise history.
After falling behind on an early shorthanded goal, the Sabres’ longest-tenured players fittingly led them to the division crown. Thompson became the fifth player in Sabres history to record his third 40-goal season, joining four names in the KeyBank Center rafters (Rick Martin, Gilbert Perreault, Danny Gare and Pat LaFontaine).
Rasmus Dahlin also found himself associated with a Sabres legend in the rafters, surpassing Rene Robert for sole possession of fifth place on the franchise’s all-time assist list with 331. Dahlin’s helper set up a goal for alternate captain Alex Tuch, which gave the Sabres a 3-1 cushion in the third period.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, a Sabres draft pick way back in 2017, made 15 saves to earn the win.
The Sabres have one game remaining, at home against Dallas Stars on Wednesday.
