Postgame Report | Thompson scores twice in loss to Vegas

Tage Thompson scored a pair of goals for the Sabres in a 7-4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights inside KeyBank Center on Thursday.
Casey Mittelstadt and Rasmus Asplund also scored for Buffalo. Eric Comrie made 28 saves.
Logan Thompson made 31 saves for the Golden Knights, who were led in scoring by Jack Eichel (3+1) and Chandler Stephenson (1+3). Phil Kessel, Paul Cotter and Alex Pietrangelo also scored.
The Sabres entered the third period trailing 3-2. The Goldent Knights created separation with two quick goals, then staved off the Sabres' comeback attempts behind Eichel's four-point period.
"Too many freebees," Sabres coach Don Granato said afterward. "That was the challenge. That was the issue tonight, clearly. You trade chances with the talent that they have, it works out the way it worked out."
Buffalo has now lost four in a row and is 0-2-0 on the current four-game homestand. The team has a chance to rebound against the Eastern Conference leading Boston Bruins on Saturday.
"The sun is going to come up tomorrow," Thompson said. "It's a new day. It's a new opportunity. What's done is done. Learn from it obviously and move on. We have a good stretch of playing against good teams. Every night is going to be a challenge and that's something we need to be prepared for."

How it happened

PERIOD 1
The Sabres coaching staff took the go-ahead goal off the board with a successful offside challenge late in the period, sending the two teams into intermission tied 1-1.
Stephenson put the Golden Knights on the board with a power-play goal just 5:54 into the period. Thompson answered with a power-play goal for the Sabres.

The Golden Knights appeared to have pulled ahead shortly after Thompson's goal when a Nicolas Hague shot created a high bounce and fell in behind Comrie. The Sabres successfully challenged that Nicolas Roy had entered the offensive zone offside.
Comrie made 14 saves in the period, including a breakaway save on Eichel that ignited the crowd.

PERIOD 2
Kessel scored on a 2-on-1 rush just 3:43 into the period to put the Golden Knights in front.
The Sabres once again used the man advantage to earn the tying goal. This time, Mittelstadt - with Victor Olofsson posing as a shooting thread on the opposite side of the net - kept the puck as he left to right across the blue paint, then buried a shot off his backhand.

The Golden Knights took a 3-2 lead with 2:52 remaining on a breakaway goal from Cotter. It was the third breakaway Comrie had faced, having stopped Eichel a second time earlier in the period.
"I think we were a little sloppy at times giving them free offense and they're a good team," Thompson said. "They're going to make you pay. That's something we've got to learn moving forward, managing the puck at both blue lines and making sure we're not turning it over."
The Sabres finished the period leading 38-25 in 5-on-5 shot attempts, according to Natural Stat Trick.
PERIOD 3
Vegas extended its lead to 5-2 with goals from Pietrangelo and Eichel scored just 2:21 apart. Pietrangelo sent a shot from the point in off of traffic; Eichel buried a rebound into an open net.
Thompson scored his second goal of the game with 10:20 remaining, driving to the net and roofing a shot from inside the crease.

Eichel scored on an odd-man rush to restore the Golden Knights' three-goal lead with 5:23 remaining. Asplund ignited one last comeback attempt by the Sabres with a shorthanded goal with 3:29 to play, but it was as close as the Sabres would come. Alex Tuch hit the crossbar on a shot that would have cut the deficit to one with over a minute on the clock.

Eichel completed his hat trick with 8 seconds left when he scored into an empty net.

What we learned

1.Granato expressed confidence in the Sabres' ability to put the loss in the rearview mirror.
"There's no reason to not be confident," Granato said. "This league can beat you up. My thought is we have a choice. If you want to get beat up by it, you get beat up by it. If you want to move on, you move on. But you move on with the lessons learned. I think that's what this group has done a real good job at."
2.The Sabres have scored at least one power-play goal in eight straight games. They last accomplished that feat from December 19, 2008 to January 6, 2009.
3.Dahlin recorded his 16th point of the season with an assist on Thompson's goal. He has recorded at least one point in all but one game this season.

Up next

The Sabres host the Bruins on Saturday. It will be Hockey Fights Cancer Night in partnership with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center at KeyBank Center
The first 10,000 fans in attendance will receive a commemorative Hockey Fights Cancer scarf. Find more information on the night here.
Tickets are available now.
Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop on MSG and WGR 550 at 7:15 following a special ceremonial faceoff.