This was Thompson's third straight game with a goal. The 27-year-old forward is up to 31 tallies, 54 points, 174 shots on net, 55 hits and a plus-4 rating across 55 appearances. He'll likely surpass last year's 56-point output -- he's on track to top the 40-goal and 70-point marks.
BOTTOM LINE: The Buffalo Sabres are looking to stop their four-game slide with a victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa Bay is 36-21-4 overall and 7-10-0 against the Atlantic Division. The Lightning are second in the league with 217 total goals (averaging 3.6 per game).
TAMPA, Fla. — Jake Guentzel had a hat trick, Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied for a 6-5 victory over the Buffalo Sabres ...
TAMPA — Jake Guentzel had a hat trick ... Nicholas Paul and Darren Raddysh also scored for the Lightning. Alex Tuch, Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Peyton Krebs and John-Jason Peterka scored ...