ANAHEIM, Calif. - Peyton Krebs slid onto the top line Thursday and Buffalo got exactly what it was hoping for: instant pop, instant chemistry, and a monster night from Tage Thompson in a 7-6 win over the Ducks at Honda Center.
Konsta Helenius’ injury opened the door for Krebs, and he walked through it with three assists, all of them feeding Thompson on a five-point night and his 10th career hat trick. Buffalo also got three points from Zach Benson, who finished with one goal and two assists, as the Sabres improved to 6-4-3 and collected five of a possible six points on the road trip. They’ll finish it Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles.
Thompson was the story, and the line around him knew it.
“That big frame of his, it’s hard to defend. When he’s moving his feet, driving the puck, getting it to the net, it’s fun to watch,” Krebs said. “He was due for one of those nights, and it came tonight."
“He’s a beast. It was only a matter of time, obviously, right?,” echoed Zach Benson. “He can score goals, that’s for sure, so when he gets hot, he’s hot.”
The night started with chaos and nearly got away from Buffalo before it even settled in. The Sabres took consecutive penalties and were down 2-0 just three minutes into the game after Ducks captain Mikael Granlund scored on a 5-on-3 with a between-the-legs tip, then Cutter Gauthier finished off the remaining power play.
“We knew they were going to be a desperate team. They’ve got good power-play guys,” coach Lindy Ruff said.
“And what do we do right off the start? We hand them a 5-on-3.
We’ve got to be better than that.”
Buffalo answered with seven of the next eight goals, beginning with a strong shift from the fourth line and a Tyson Kozak one-timer that got the comeback moving. Still, the Sabres’ sharpest work came from the line with Krebs, Thompson and Benson.
Thompson’s first goal tied it 3-3 late in the opening period. Krebs sent a backhand stretch pass to Benson at the blue line, Benson pushed it into space, and Thompson burst into the zone, circled Ducks defenseman Tristan Luneau and finished at the net.
The second and third periods belonged to Buffalo’s puck movement, even if the Ducks kept hanging around. The Sabres cycled the puck cleanly, cut off Anaheim’s clearing attempts and forced goalie Ville Husso into a stream of stops. Eventually, Thompson struck again off a Krebs faceoff win to put Buffalo ahead.
Then came the third goal, only 15 seconds later. Krebs lost the draw but recovered the puck, Rasmus Dahlin sprung Thompson, and he beat Husso five-hole for the hat trick. A few hats drifted onto the ice from the Anaheim crowd.
“Some games, you get a lot of chances and they all go in for you,” said Thompson, who took five shots. “Felt like tonight was one of those games.”
The hat trick gave Thompson 10 for his career, which ranks second in the league since 2021-22 behind Auston Matthews’ 11. In Sabres history, only Rick Martin and Gilbert Perreault have more. The two power-play assists also pushed Thompson to his fourth career five-point game, another place where he sits near the top of the franchise record book.
Krebs’ night mattered just as much. His three assists came with him handling center duties, and he said that role let him use his speed and get Buffalo moving the right way.
“Tonight, I really wanted to make an impact, really play a good defensive game for those two to shine. And I think I did pretty good at that,” Krebs said.
“It was nice to get back at center and use my engine in the D zone, get pucks up to those two and just create some offense for them. I wanted to have a big night and show them I can play wherever - and really well.”
The Sabres were at their best when the top line was together. Buffalo outscored Anaheim 4-0 with Thompson, Krebs and Benson on the ice, and the Ducks managed nothing against them in even-strength scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. The numbers matched the eye test: the puck kept finding Thompson in dangerous spots.
“That line stayed on the ice, and he completed the hat trick just 15 seconds later,” the game story played out, and it fit the way Buffalo kept coming at Anaheim. Thompson and Krebs have logged nearly 700 minutes together since last season, including the playoffs, and Thompson said that connection gets sharpened away from the rink too.
“He’s always trying to get better, he’s always learning,” Thompson said. “I feel like we talk quite a bit off the ice, just about different things we see in the game.
Watch clips together sometimes, and he’s always asking, (in) situations, where I’m gonna be or where to go, just trying to get a feel for that. And that’s something I think we’ve developed over the years.”
The Sabres also got a little help from the hockey gods on the power play. Down 3-1 in the first, Benson’s bumper shot redirected off Jackson LaCombe’s skate and landed right on Noah Östlund’s stick for Buffalo’s fifth power-play goal of the season. Later, Jack Quinn’s centering pass hit LaCombe again and went in for the Sabres’ sixth power-play goal, extending the lead to 6-3.
“If you get the puck going towards the net, you’re going to get some puck luck,” Ruff said. “There’s times we’re a little bit hesitant to throw pucks to net. We got the bounces we needed, for sure.”
The cushion should have been enough, but the Sabres made the finish messy. Anaheim scored three unanswered goals, including 6-on-5 tallies with 1:08 and 0:31 left, and suddenly Buffalo was hanging on. Colten Ellis had to make a desperation stop on Jackson LaCombe in front with 22 seconds left to preserve the win.
The Ducks threw 16 shots at Buffalo in the third and forced the Sabres into a tense final stretch, one that Ruff said was made harder by mistakes that handed Anaheim extra chances.
“All you need to do is concentrate on playing good defense, and you’re going to get more offense. Your rush coverage, read where guys are going - we’re better than that, and we gave up a couple goals there,” Ruff said. “I know they’ve got an extra guy on the ice, but if positioning were sound - and we’ve worked hard at this part of the game and going to continue to work on it - the pieces should be there to make them earn a bigger goal than they got.”
Ellis finished with 28 saves and picked up his second straight win. His best early stop came on a breakaway from Jeff Malott while Buffalo was still chasing the game.
In the end, the Sabres survived the mess because their best players were on fire, Krebs fit the line immediately, and Thompson delivered the kind of night that can flip a game in a hurry. Buffalo now heads to Los Angeles to close the trip Saturday at 4 p.m. EDT against the Kings.
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