Sabres' Tage Thompson invited to 4 Nations Face-Off final as injury insurance

Buffalo Sabres winger Tage Thompson and New Jersey Devils defenseman Brett Pesce have been invited to Boston by USA Hockey to serve as injury replacements for the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game pitting Canada and Team USA on Thursday in TD Garden.

Team USA has several players who are banged up or have been sick, and announced Thursday that Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy will not play because he has been hospitalized for treatment of an infection that developed within a shoulder/AC joint injury he has been dealing with in the tournament.

Thompson and Pesce will only be eligible to play if the Americans have another player suffer an injury or get struck by illness. The pair is not even allowed to dress and take the morning skate unless that situation arises. The Sabres are not practicing Thursday.

American brothers Matthew and Brady Tkachuk have each missed parts of the last two games, but were proclaimed ready to go for the final on Wednesday, even though Brady did not practice due to illness. Toronto's Auston Matthews is another player dealing with injury issues as he sat out Monday's game against Sweden due to upper-body soreness.

Thompson, who leads the Sabres with 26 goals, was one of the biggest snubs at forward on the U.S. roster. He's tied with Montreal's Cole Caufield for the most goals among players not selected for the tournament.

Thompson spoke about the tournament to reporters after practice in KeyBank Center on Tuesday as the Sabres returned to work following a nine-day hiatus

"It's been great. I've been watching all the games. I thought the US-Canada game was awesome," Thompson said, referring to the teams' meeting Saturday in Montreal. "If you're not a hockey fan, that will instantly get you hooked. I was sitting there wishing I was there a little bit. It was probably an unreal atmosphere, and I think everyone is excited for the rematch on Thursday."

With McAvoy's status in doubt, the Americans spent much of the last two days waiting on a decision from Vancouver star Quinn Hughes about coming to Boston as an injury replacement. But Hughes, who pulled out of the tournament prior to its start, is still recovering from an injury and decided Thursday not to make the trip East so he didn't risk missing Canucks games after the tournament.