LAS VEGAS – The accolades keep rolling in for center Tage Thompson, who has become the first Buffalo Sabres skater named one of the weekly three stars by the NHL in consecutive weeks.
A few hours before the Sabres face off in T-Mobile Arena against the Jack Eichel-less Vegas Golden Knights, the league announced Thompson as its Second Star of the week. Thompson was behind Edmonton's Connor McDavid last week and is behind Washington's Alex Ovechkin on this list, in a week in which Ovechkin became just the third player in NHL history to reach 800 career goals.
Thompson had four goals and four assists in three games last week and enters Monday's play second in the league with 25 and third in points with 49. He's the first NHL skater named in back-to-back weeks since Minnesota's Kevin Fiala was named in April.
The Sabres are going for their first four-game winning streak of the season and a perfect road trip when they play the Golden Knights at 10 p.m. (MSG and WGR Radio). Buffalo is 2-0 on the trip, with wins at Colorado and Arizona. Its last four-game winning streak was in April.
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Jeff Skinner scores a goal in a 3-on-3 game as the Sabres practice at T-Mobile Arena on Dec. 18, 2022
"It's huge," said Sabres winger and former Golden Knight Alex Tuch. "I thought that the last time we had a West Coast trip, we started off really well and we didn't finish off too well (the October trip that opened with wins in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver but ended with a blowout loss in Seattle). So that's something that we'll have to have in the back of our minds is to finish off the trip with this opportunity. It's one of the best teams in the league, coming into their building. We have to be ready, all 20 of us."
"He's one of the best players in the world ... " Tuch said. "To be able to ... watch him and see how he sees a play, and next thing you know no one's open and he's throwing it perfectly in (Stefon) Diggs' hands. Wow."
The Sabres are 0-3-1 all-time in T-Mobile Arena and have lost their last three visits. Coach Don Granato said Sunday he wants to keep measuring his team's improvement, comparing this one to the 7-4 loss against Vegas Nov. 10 in KeyBank Center.
"We made lots of mistakes we've done a better job of not making recently," Granato said when recalling that game. "So we've matured as a team. We've gained a greater sense of objective after playing them and being disappointed that it was a lot of self-inflicted stuff that cost us that game.
"That's the primary feel going into this one: It's an opportunity to measure ourselves on our own performance against a team that can hold you accountable for not playing the right way."
The Sabres will have defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin back in their lineup Monday night after he suffered a lower body injury when he blocked a shot by Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos on Nov. 29. Eichel, who had a hat trick in the first meeting, is on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and will miss his fifth straight game.
Lyubushkin will come into the lineup for Jeremy Davies while Rasmus Asplund and Vinnie Hinostroza will be scratches up front. Owen Power (lower body) will miss his third straight game and continues to be listed day to day.
Skinner scored two goals and Thompson had the third to cap a three-point night as the Sabres overcame the pesky Arizona Coyotes, 5-2, to win their third straight game.
"It's unbelievable," Lyubushkin said of his return. "It's always exciting to play hockey. It's much better than to practice every day. That's my job but it's way than practice."
As for twice missing a set of games due to blocking shots, Lyubushkin said there's not much you can do to avoid the injuries.
"It's hockey life. It's my job and I need to do my job," he said. "What can we do? I can't sit back and say, 'You can score your goals in our net.' I'm just trying to help my team."
Mike Harrington
Sports Columnist
A News staffer since 1987, I'm a Baseball Hall of Fame voter, a 2013 inductee into the Buffalo Baseball HOF and the Buffalo chapter chair of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. And I insist only Chicago & New York can come close to Buffalo pizza.