Thompson gets 2 goals, assist for Sabres in win against Red Wings 

BUFFALO -- Tage Thompson had two goals and an assist for the Buffalo Sabres in a 5-3 win against the Detroit Red Wings at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

Rasmus Dahlin had three assists, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 22 saves for the Sabres (4-4-1), who have won three in a row.

“These are important games,” Thompson said. “We knew that heading in and we’ve been, towards the end of the season the last couple years where it comes down to a point, and these ones in the beginning of the season add up. It’s a big game for us. We came out with some good intensity and desperation.”

Lucas Raymond had a goal and an assist, and Moritz Seider had two assists for the Red Wings (4-4-0), who had won three straight. Alex Lyon made 34 saves.

“I think we weren’t sharp enough,” Seider said. “… Early in games we have to make sure we don’t run from behind, chase, so we’ve got to learn that and take a better step of maybe preparation. We’ve just got to make sure we’re ready to go."

Jason Zucker scored Buffalo’s first power-play goal of the season to make it 1-0 at 4:04 of the first period. After Lyon stopped Thompson’s slap shot, Zucker was first to the rebound in the left face-off circle, putting it bar down short side. It was his first goal for the Sabres after signing as a free agent on July 1.

“He's a veteran guy and I think his hockey sense is off the charts,” Thompson said. “Getting him out there is big for us in terms of retrieving pucks. He reads the play very well, so he knows where to pop into those little pockets for support, and he can score. He can finish plays off and you saw that tonight. He’s a big piece of our team and a big piece of that power play.”

Thompson made it 2-0 at 12:00 with one-timer from one knee off a cross-crease pass from JJ Peterka at the left of the net.

Alex DeBrincat took a return pass from Seider in the high slot and scored with a one-timer to cut it to 2-1 at 14:43.

Thompson pushed it to 3-1 at 3:20 of the second period with a one-timer from the slot off a backhanded centering pass from Dahlin along the right-side boards.

“When you see our best player dominates the game, he gives us confidence,” Dahlin said of Thompson. “In general, just give him the puck and something good will happen.”

Michael Rasmussen cut it to 3-2 when he lifted a backhand over Luukkonen from in front 31 seconds later.

Raymond tied it 3-3 with a short-handed goal at 11:02. He intercepted Thompson’s pass intended for Dahlin and skated down the right side before beating Luukkonen with a wrist shot from the right circle.

“It’s always good to get a goal and it was at a good time,” Raymond said.

Bowen Byram’s shot from above the left circle deflected in off Detroit defenseman Jeff Petry to put Buffalo ahead 4-3 at 15:54.

Jack Quinn scored an empty-net goal at 19:12 of the third period for the 5-3 final.

“Didn’t like our first, there were some wall battles that we lost and ended up too much more on the zone time,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “Obviously a turnover that led to a transition goal. But I thought after that, the last 40 minutes, we cleaned some of that up, we had a pretty good 40 minutes, opportunity to execute. On the power play we got the movement, we had our back door open, just didn’t execute. And even on the goalie pull, we got our open-net look again and just didn’t execute again.”

NOTES: Seider, 23, had his 28th career multipoint game, fourth-most by a defenseman in Red Wings history before the age of 24. … Thompson has 10 points (six goals, four assists) during a six-game point streak. … Thompson’s 104.69 mph slap shot at 4:01 of the first period was the fastest shot ever recorded by NHL EDGE (since 2021-22). It’s the second time in three days that a new mark has been set, following the 103.77 mph shot by Utah’s Michael Kesselring on Oct. 24. … Dahlin had his 40th career multiassist game, moving him into sole possession of second place in Sabres history behind Phil Housley, who had 77. ... The Sabres were 0-for-22 on the power-play before Zucker's goal. … Buffalo center Ryan McLeod had his four-game goal streak end.