Tage Thompson scored a pair of goals, including a power-play goal in the third period to help the Buffalo Sabres to a 5-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings in a preseason game Saturday at KeyBank Center.
Josh Norris added two assists for the Sabres, and Alex Tuch, playing in his first preseason game, assisted on Thompson’s power play goal. Defenseman Radim Mrtka, the Sabres’ first-round pick in the NHL Draft in June, also scored his first preseason goal.
How it happened
First period: Rasmus Dahlin’s slapshot beats Sebastian Cossa and gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 3:41, about 10 seconds after Zach Benson couldn’t get a square shot off and fell to the ice as he was tangled with defenseman Ian Mitchell on Cossa’s stick side.
A little more than nine minutes later, Mrtka gave the Sabres a 2-0 lead, as his shot off a feed from Konsta Helenius from above the left circle bounced off Costa and dribbled into the goal. But with less than 100 seconds left, Patrick Kane’s one-timer in the slot off a pass from Alex DeBrincat, who picked up a turnover by Mrtka behind the goal, cut the lead to 2-1.
Second period: Less than 15 seconds in, Josh Norris won a faceoff and Thompson immediately picked up the puck and fired a shot past Cossa to give the Sabres a two-goal lead. Lyon got the help of a defender who cleared the puck behind the play and in front of the goal after Lyon deflected a shot by Albert Johansson about five minutes in.
Marco Kasper cut the lead to one goal at 13:36 when he picked up a rebound off a shot by Ben Chiarot that Lyon couldn’t settle and cover.
Third period: Thompson scored his second goal 37 seconds into the third, a power-play tally on a one-timer from the left circle off a feed from Tuch, after Mitchell was called for a delay of game late in the second.
Josh Norris added an empty-net goal with 12.5 seconds left.
What’s next
The Sabres resume training camp Monday, and Rochester opens its AHL training camp Monday. The Sabres host the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fifth preseason game at 7 p.m.
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Rachel Lenzi
News sports reporter
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