Postgame Report | Buffalo's top line lifts Sabres to victory in Arizona

TEMPE, Ariz. - Tage Thompson waited in the left faceoff circle while Dylan Cozens, Jeff Skinner, and Rasmus Dahlin fought in the crease, battling to keep the puck loose after a series of saves by Connor Ingram.
The work paid off. The puck popped free to Thompson, who buried the go-ahead goal with 8:53 remaining in what ended as a 5-2 victory for the Sabres over the Arizona Coyotes inside Mullett Arena on Saturday.
"I love that part of our game, that we just kept battling," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "It was not easy. That's not an easy team to play, credit to them. Their goaltender I thought was outstanding, especially early. But yes, our guys battled through."

Thompson's goal capped a three-point night (1+2) in his hometown. Jeff Skinner had two goals and an assist in his return from a three-game suspension while Alex Tuch had three assists. Tyson Jost and Kyle Okposo scored empty-net goals.
Craig Anderson made 29 saves.
The Sabres erased deficits of 1-0 and 2-1. They outshot the Coyotes 43-31 but entered the second period in a tie game, thanks in part to the strong play of Ingram.
They stuck to their game long enough to break through against a Coyotes team that had won three straight games at home but had played the night prior.
"I thought we were playing good hockey," Thompson said. "We were keeping it simple, we knew they played last night. I think our game plan was just to keep it simple and wear them down. That's kind of why you see it in the third, where the scoring starts to go up.
"They probably get a little gassed there in the third and we played the same way for a full 60. That's why we end up with the win there."

How it happened

PERIOD 1
The Sabres outshot the Coyotes 14-7 and emerged from the period tied 1-1 on the strength of a power-play goal from Skinner.
Shayne Gostisbehere opened the scoring for the Coyotes with a power-play goal 3:44 into the contest. Skinner answered for the Sabres on their first power play of the night at 6:34, pushing the puck past the goal line after a Thompson shot deflected off Ingram.

PERIOD 2
The Coyotes pulled ahead once again on a 2-on-1 goal from Barrett Hayton, and again Skinner erased the deficit. This time, he buried a one-time shot set up by Rasmus Dahlin.

Skinner lauded the play by Dahlin afterward.
"I just drop it to him and he makes a world-class play to draws guys to him and draw the goalie and then slide it off to me and I just kind of put it on net there," he said. "He's probably the best D-man in the league right now, so it's nice to play with him."
The Sabres killed off 52 seconds at 5-on-3 power play late in the period.
PERIOD 3
Thompson scored the go-ahead goal on the power play with 8:53 remaining. Ingram made a series of saves around the crease but the puck stayed loose long enough for it to be kicked out to Thompson, who fired from the right circle.

Jost and Okposo added empty-net goals late in the period to seal the victory.

What we learned

1. Thompson upped his team-leading point total to 49, third in the NHL behind Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
2.Thompson was born in Arizona and it remains his summer home. His mother, Kim, was in attendance along with roughly 20 members of their family.

3. Peyton Krebs drew the holding penalty that preceded Thompson's power-play goal while battling for a loose puck in the neutral zone. He finished the night with five shot attempts and was credited with four hits.
"It might have been his best game of the year," Granato said. "He played hard, he played direct, simple. The decisions he made, his speed was evident, puck pressure. He was really good for us tonight."
4.Skinner scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season. When he had a chance at the hat trick, he opted to pass to Okposo for the empty-net goal.
"That says a lot," Granato said. "And that's kind of the effort and focus we had as a team."

5.The Sabres were without defenseman Owen Power for the second straight game. Power sustained a lower-body injury during off-ice warmups in Colorado on Thursday and is considered day to day. He joined a list of injured defensemen that includes Henri Jokiharju, Jacob Bryson, and Ilya Lyubushkin.
Jeremy Davies was recalled Friday and made his Sabres debut on defense.
6.Following the victory, several Sabres players huddled around a TV in the back of the dressing room to watch Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass kick a game-winning, playoff-clinching field goal against the Miami Dolphins. Skinner came right from the TV to his postgame interview.
"Tuchy's fired up," he said.
Afterward, Skinner and Tuch collaborated on this masterpiece:

Up next

The road trip concludes in Vegas on Monday. Coverage on MSG begins at 9:30 p.m. The puck drops at 10 on MSG and WGR 550.