Thompson, Sabres recover for shootout win against Flames
Forward scores 10th goal of season; Backlund ties it for Calgary in 3rd period
CGY at BUF | Recap
BUFFALO — Tage Thompson scored his 10th goal of the season for the Buffalo Sabres, who recovered for a 3-2 shootout win against the Calgary Flames at KeyBank Center on Saturday.
Thompson extended his goal streak to three games when he scored on the power play in the second period. He’s had at least one point in 12 of 15 games this season.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 24 saves, including all three in the shootout, and Zach Benson scored for the Sabres (7-7-1), who have won three in a row. JJ Peterka had the only goal in the shootout.
Mikael Backlund tied it in the third period after Matt Coronato scored in the second for the Flames (7-5-3), who saw all three games of their road trip go past regulation (1-0-2). Dan Vladar made 17 saves.
Calgary tied it 2-2 at 15:42 of the third. Backlund took a backhand pass from Jonathan Huberdeau in the left face-off circle and picked the corner on the far side.
Benson gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 1:11 of the first period. Jacob Bryson’s point shot hit defenseman Kevin Bahl’s skate in front and deflected over to Benson, who backhanded it five-hole.
Thompson’s one-timer from the left circle on the power play beat Vladar inside the far post to make it 2-0 at 13:37.
Coronato cut it to 2-1 at 17:44 of the second when he was uncovered at the side of the net to tap in a MacKenzie Weegar pass. It was Coronato’s fifth goal of the season.
Weegar had two assists.