Thompson, Cozens lead Sabres in preseason win over Carolina

Tage Thompson did not hesitate when Jalen Chatfield delivered an open ice hit on Vinnie Hinostroza late in the first period inside KeyBank Center on Tuesday.
Thompson shook off his gloves and, with a six-inch height advantage in his favor, delivered a series of blows to the Carolina Hurricanes defenseman before officials intervened. He was escorted to the dressing room with a 10-minute misconduct, five minutes for fighting, two minutes for slashing - and a Gordie Howe hat trick already under his belt, having tallied a goal and assist prior.
The moment served as an exclamation point on a dominant first period from the Buffalo Sabres, who held on for a 4-2 victory over the Hurricanes in their final home game of the preseason.

"It was awesome," Hinostroza said in regard to Thompson's response. "I think it just speaks on our team. Everyone on this team would do that for each other. I didn't see that guy coming, big hit, and Tommer jumps right in and fights him.
"That just speaks volumes of the character he has as a teammate and the character we have in this room, because I really feel like any guy is going to do that for each other. We have a great group, and it was awesome."
Buffalo iced a roster that will closely resemble the one that takes the ice for the regular season opener against Ottawa next Thursday. Thompson, Hinostroza, Dylan Cozens and JJ Peterka scored goals while Craig Anderson - playing his first full game of the preseason - stopped 23 of 25 shots.
The Sabres improved to 4-1-0 in the preseason.
PERIOD 1
Video: CAR@BUF: Hinostroza scores in 1st period
The Sabres dominated from the opening puck drop, having outshot the Hurricanes 10-0 by the time Hinostroza buried his breakaway chance with 13:01 left in the period.
Video: CAR@BUF: Thompson goes end-to-end to double lead
Thompson added to the lead after serving a minor penalty for hooking, exiting the penalty box on a breakaway and deking by Pyotr Kochetkov as the goaltender attempted a lunging poke check.
Tweet from @BuffaloSabres: Dylan Cozens making it look TOO EASY. 😮���💨#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/h5AxmLFm0B
Cozens intercepted a pass in the defensive zone before burying the third goal on a shorthanded breakaway.
The Sabres finished the period with decisive edges in 5-on-5 shot attempts (16-3) and scoring chances (12-0), according to Natural Stat Trick.
"I thought our pace was good," Granato said. "Obviously the transition game was quick, the support was great and it was a fairly smooth period, to say the least. Good signs as we're looking for progress and improvement day to day through camp."
PERIOD 2
The Sabres killed an early penalty, assessed to Alex Tuch for hooking, to improve to 3-for-3 on the night.
Anderson stopped five shots in the period, including a late attempt from in tight that represented the Hurricanes' best chance of the night.
PERIOD 3
The Hurricanes struck quickly with a pair of goals scored 19 seconds apart.
Jameison Rees buried a loose puck in front of Anderson to put Carolina on the board. Malte Stromwall sent a shot in from the high slot to cut the Sabres' lead to 3-2 just 2:04 into the period.
Video: CAR@BUF: Peterka scores in 3rd period
"I don't mind adversity," Granato said. "We need it. I've said to guys many times, to me the best teams are the ones that handle it. It's not the ones that avoid it. We've got to learn how to handle a challenge and tonight was an opportunity to do that in the preseason, and it was useful."
Peterka potted a feed from Cozens into an empty net with 1:20 remaining for his first goal of the preseason.
Anderson finished the period having stopped 11 of 13 shots to complete the win.
1. Kyle Okposo did not return for the third period due to an upper-body injury that is not head-related. He skated 10:04 total, completing his final shift with 1:31 remaining in the second period.
"It is going to be a shorter-term injury, but he will not skate the next few days until we see how he responds," Granato said.
2.Thompson was asked after the game about his response to the hit on Hinostroza.
"You don't want to see a hit like that, especially in preseason, maybe taken a little advantage of there," he said. "Just trying to step in and stand up for him."
3.Thompson's quick response was the continuation of a trend that stretches back throughout Granato's time as coach. The most recent - and high-profile - example came in March, when Cozens answered for Auston Matthews' illegal cross-check to Rasmus Dahlin in the Heritage Classic with an open-ice hit on Matthews and a subsequent fight with Michael Bunting.
But the history of these young Sabres standing up for each other stretches back further, as Granato reminded us postgame. Thompson himself fought Kevan Miller during a game in Boston in April 2021, less than a month into Granato's tenure as interim head coach. That was in response to a hit on Rasmus Asplund.
"I think everyone can do that," Thompson said. "It's just how bad do you love your teammates and what are you willing to do? I think, for me, that's something I want to take pride in. I want to be known for a guy that competes for his teammates, and that was my opportunity to do that."
Video: POSTGAME: Thompson
4. Thompson led the Sabres with 38 goals and 68 points last season and was rewarded with a seven-year, $50 million contract extension in the summer - making it a bit nerve-wracking for Granato to watch as Thompson threw haymakers at center ice.
But any nervousness from the Sabres coach was outweighed by pride for what the fight meant.
"It's obviously a testament to how these guys feel about each other and what they believe they are capable of potentially accomplishing on a nightly basis," he said. "Because you fight for what you love."
5.Hinostroza scored his second goal in three preseason games. He previously drew the penalty that led to Jack Quinn's game-tying, power-play goal in Washington on September 25 before scoring the winning goal in overtime that same afternoon.
Hinostroza re-signed with the Sabres on a one-year contract in July. Granato spoke earlier this week about what the veteran forward adds to the team.
"I was really excited that we were able to come to terms with Vinnie and get him back here," Granato said. "He pushes the pace in practice. He's just such a competitive guy. And he's so in the moment. He's just so excited every moment.
"He's a guy, even though his stature isn't big and it's almost a situation where he's had to fight for everything he gets and he's just so ready to compete. He has an attitude that, 'I'm not going to be denied, I'm going to get something done here,' and that's in a very infectious way."
6.Thompson echoed Granato when asked about Hinostroza.
"Vinnie's a huge piece of this team," he said. "He's got a lot of energy. He's someone, if there's a little bit of a dip in our game out there, you look to him and he's always creating energy, always flying around the ice and he's got a lot of skill and really smart knowledge of the game.
"I think when you see him buzzing around out there, it gives a little life to the bench. It's always nice playing with him, too, creating some offense with him and getting some scoring chances."
7 . Granato said Wednesday that he hoped to keep the forward lines and defense pairs relatively consistent during the final week of the preseason.
Here's how the group lined up, with Victor Olofsson - who practiced on a line with Jeff Skinner and Thompson on Wednesday - getting the night off.
| October 4 vs. Carolina | | --- | | LW | C | RW | | 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 29 Vinnie Hinostroza | | 22 Jack Quinn | 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 89 Alex Tuch | | 19 Peyton Krebs | 24 Dylan Cozens | 77 JJ Peterka | | 28 Zemgus Girgensons | 74 Rasmus Asplund | 21 Kyle Okposo | | LD | RD | G | | 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 23 Mattias Samuelsson | 41 Craig Anderson | | 25 Owen Power | 10 Henri Jokiharju | 1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | | 78 Jacob Bryson | 46 Ilya Lyubushkin | |
The Sabres conclude the preseason in Pittsburgh on Friday. The AT&T Sports feed will air on MSG beginning at 7 p.m. Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray will have the radio call on WGR 550.
Buffalo's first regular season game is October 13 against Ottawa. Tickets are on sale now.