The Buffalo Sabres 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins would be bad news enough, but they’ll be without Tage Thompson for some time because of injury, too.
BUFFALO — The Buffalo Sabres matchup against the Boston Bruins was set to be a measuring stick of sorts given that the Bruins are again one of the best teams in the NHL. What wasn’t being counted on was how rude it was all going to play out.
The Sabres lost 5-2 on what was captain Kyle Okposo’s 1,000th NHL game. Devon Levi gave up five goals on 18 shots before he was pulled in the second period. Victor Olofsson scored both goals for Buffalo, which was a welcome sign, but the worst news of it all came when Tage Thompson left the game in the second period after a Charlie McAvoy shot went off his left arm and left the star center in a massive amount of pain before he left the game for good.
Thompson had just returned to the game at the start of the second period after he’d suffered a skate cut after a collision with McAvoy near the Bruins net in the first period. The Sabres are going to need to have a few players step up for the foreseeable future.
“Tage is going to miss some time here, probably significant time unfortunately,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “He fought through the first injury but couldn’t fight through the second one. Credit to him to battle but it’s unfortunate.”
Thompson was third on the team in scoring with 12 points (six goals, six assists) and has been one of the Sabres best puck defenders at even strength and particularly on the penalty kill this season.
In a game that had a few worrisome details, the loss of Thompson overruns all of them and now puts the onus on others to make up for his temporary, albeit significant, departure.
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Going without Thompson for what will likely be termed a week-to-week absence with injury will put the focus squarely on Casey Mittelstadt and Dylan Cozens to step up. The Sabres are fortunate to have the kind of depth up the middle now that in previous years would’ve left them deeply searching for backup. Now they’re in a very good place to be able to weather a tough blow like this.
“I think those are two guys that have a track record of responding to adversity and challenge and this is a much greater challenge now presented to them and to us as a group,” Granato said. “Obviously we’re down (Jack) Quinn, we’re down (Alex) Tuch, we’re down Thompson. The hope is to get Tuch back, but at the center position specifically, Mittelstadt and Cozens will need to rise in this situation. Their track record has shown that they’ve done that.”
There’s also the effect further down the lineup this will have because now the Sabres will look to get Peyton Krebs going a little bit more and Tyson Jost as well. All of these players have been part of the lineup for the better part of the season, but now the ice time is going to increase for some or most of them as will the responsibilities.
Krebs was one of the Sabres better players on Tuesday against Boston. He returned to the lineup following an absence due to a family matter on Saturday in Pittsburgh. Krebs was much more active and controlled the puck with confidence during his shifts. Although the Sabres didn’t get much in the way of power play time, Krebs was part of the second unit in practice this week. They’ve got to get him going and now without Thompson, the opportunity for him to break out offensively will be there.
What’s perhaps convenient in the inconvenience of Thompson’s injury is it will open up a spot in the lineup for Zach Benson now that he’s on the cusp of returning. He’s skated in practice the past couple days as well and his return is imminent. With Tuch still waiting for his upper-body issue to resolve itself, getting Benson back in should provide a spark. Whenever Tuch gets back, however, the Sabres will be so much better off for it.
Saturday’s loss in Pittsburgh screamed out as a game that needed him in the lineup and the loss to Boston was no different. Not having Tuch has hampered their offensive attack and now without Thompson, their PK unit is getting ground down without him as well. They need him and miss him terribly.
We’ll have to have a longer discussion about Devon Levi at some point, but it may have to wait with Eric Comrie likely returning soon.
Levi is 3-4-0 now with a .881 save percentage. MoneyPuck.com has him at minus-1.6 goals saved above expected at 5-on-5. He struggled against Boston after he played pretty well against Minnesota last week. The thing to remember here is he’s 21 years old (turning 22 in December) and he’s learning how to be an NHL goalie on the fly. That’s really difficult to do but it’s part of the scenario GM Kevyn Adams had to believe was possible. You could say that’s why they kept three goalies on board this year if you want to view things that way, but Levi is the future for them…it’s just that the present is tricky while he hones his game.
Fortunately, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has played well and Comrie looked good before the injury. He’s due back any time now (although his wife is expecting their first child very soon) and that will put an old stress on the roster once again with keeping three goalies. I know there are a lot of you out there who want to see Levi sent to Rochester to play a ton and figure his game out, but it’s hard to see that happening at all given the way the team has handled everything.
The Sabres head out at the end of the week for a three-game road trip to Winnipeg, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. that will take them into Thanksgiving before returning home to face the Penguins again. There’ll be a fascinating few days ahead before they leave town.