Tage Thompson reflected on the Sabres' eight-day, three-game tour of California inside the visiting dressing room at SAP Center late Saturday night.
The Sabres had dropped their first game after the bye week at home to Calgary and were still admittedly not themselves when they lost in Los Angeles on Monday. They found their groove again in Anaheim, then carried that confidence into a 4-2 win over the San Jose Sharks.
"That was a big road trip," Thompson said. "It took us a little bit to get going after the break and I feel like we're kind of back in full stride now. … Now we've just got to keep it rolling."
The win did not come without adversity. The Sabres were outshot 27-13 through the first 40 minutes but left for the dressing room tied 2-2 thanks to goals from Dylan Cozens and Owen Power and timely goaltending from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
They came out for the third period with a commitment to shooting the puck. Thompson eventually won the battle down low that led to Jeff Skinner's game-winning goal with 10:08 remaining. Alex Tuch added an empty-net goal late.
"I liked the way we committed to our game plan for the last period," Thompson said. "It wasn't pretty the first two, but we got ourselves to a spot where if we won 20, we won the game. I think the response after the second period was good."
Read the full recap here.
