Thompson's historic 5-goal game propels Sabres to 9-4 win over Columbus

COLUMBUS -Tage Thompson's history-making night began rather innocuously, with a secondary assist on a power-play goal from Dylan Cozens scored 3:21 into the game.
One minute and 11 seconds later, Thompson scored a goal of his own. He added another less than three minutes later. And another. And another. And another.
When all was said and done, Thompson had completed the second five-goal game in Sabres history and his second six-point performance of the season in a 9-4 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets inside Nationwide Arena.

Thompson matched an NHL record with four goals in a single period. His all came within the first 16:40 of the contest - the second-fastest four goals to begin a game in league history, trailing Joe Malone, who scored his quartet in 8:40 for the Hamilton Bulldogs in 1921.
Thompson's night was significant in so many senses, it's only right to list them in bullet form.

• He is the second player in Sabres history with a five-goal game. Dave Andreychuk had the other on February 6, 1986.
• There have only been 12 six-point games in Sabres history. Thompson now has two in a single season.
• Thompson moved into third in the NHL in both goals (21) and points (40).
• Thompson is on pace for 66 goals and 126 points. No Sabres player has reached 50 goals or 100 points since Alexander Mogilny and Pat LaFontaine in 1992-93.
• Thompson's five points in the first period were the most by a single player in any individual period in Sabres history.
• Thompson's seven shots in the first period tied a franchise record set for an individual period, joining Maxim Afinogenov and Jason Pominville.
Jeff Skinner (0+4) and Alex Tuch (1+3) also had four-point outings while Dylan Cozens tallied three points (1+2) for the third straight game. Rasmus Dahlin and Peyton Krebs also scored goals.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 20 saves.
Here's the breakdown of the historic night in Columbus.

How it happened

PERIOD 1
The Sabres earned five power plays and pulled ahead 6-0 during the first 20 minutes. Let's go goal by goal.
Cozens opened the scoring 3:21 into the contest, burying a shot through traffic from the right circle on the power play.

Thompson scored his first goal of the night at 5:32, tucking a backhand shot from in tight on the rush off a slick feed from Tuch.

Dahlin struck next, at 7:28. He capitalized on a turnover in the Columbus zone and picked the corner from the high slot.

Thompson scored his second goal 22 seconds later, once again burying a feed from Tuch on the rush.

Thompson's third and fourth goals of the period were both one-timers on the power play.

The Sabres finished the period with more goals (6) than the Blue Jackets had shots (5).
PERIOD 2
Luukkonen stopped Gustav Nyquist on a penalty shot less than two minutes into the period. The Blue Jackets continued to push with goals from Nyquist and Patrik Laine, but Thompson's fifth goal - wired from the top of the left faceoff circle - quelled any chance of a comeback.

Krebs scored his first goal of the season with 2:41 remaining, stripping the puck from Laine in the Columbus zone before driving to the net, deking past a defender and scoring from in tight.

Tuch scored from the side of the net with 43.7 seconds on the clock.

PERIOD 3
Laine scored Columbus' third goal 4:47 into the period. Nyquist added his second of the night with 4:11 to play.
The Sabres finished with a 30-24 edge in shots.

What we learned

1. Thompson joined Stars forward Jason Robertson (23), Oilers captain Connor McDavid (22) and Canucks forward Bo Horvat (20) in the 20-goal club. Thompson scored his 20th goal last season on February 20 in Columbus.
   2. Thompson now has 40 points through 26 games this season. He posted a career-high 68 points in 78 games last year. McDavid (48), his teammate Leon Draisaitl (42) and Robertson (41) are the only other players with at least 40 points.
   3. Five Sabres - Thompson, Skinner, Cozens, Dahlin and Jack Quinn - extended their own personal point streaks to five games.

Up next

Buffalo has a home-and-home set against the Pittsburgh Penguins that opens up Friday night at KeyBank Center.
Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. on MSG and WGR 550 with pregame coverage starting at 6:30 on MSG. Tickets are on sale now.