With one loss over their last five, the Buffalo Sabres are getting back a key reinforcement. Tage Thompson practiced in full on Tuesday, including taking line rushes and working on the top powerplay unit. Every indication pointed to Thompson and Nicolas Aube-Kubel returning to the lineup Wednesday night against the Minnesota Wild in favor of Jack Quinn and Isak Rosen.
With Thompson’s return, the Sabres lines were jumbled from their California road trip. The star center worked in his usual spot on the first line between JJ Peterka and Alex Tuch. Ryan McLeod, who was in that spot in Thompson’s absence, was back with Jason Zucker on the third line. Jiri Kulich rotated with McLeod at center and on the wing, and Quinn took reps with the line as well. Dylan Cozens centered Zach Benson and Peyton Krebs, a trio that head coach Lindy Ruff liked late in the win over the San Jose Sharks.
“I think just the work ethic and the intensity that those three guys had together started to make a difference inside the game for us,” Ruff said. “I think strength-wise, [Krebs is] strong on the puck.”
Ruff went on to compliment the strength and effort of Cozens and Benson as well, forming a trio that is difficult to play against.
Isak Rosen to Rochester
Isak Rosen took secondary reps with the Beck Malenstyn, Sam Lafferty, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel line. The young Swede was loaned back to the Rochester Americans following the practice. Rosen logged 6:29 of ice time in Saturday’s victory over the Sharks.
Offensive Lift form Tage Thompson
Prior to his injury, Tage Thompson was doing a lot of the heavy lifting for the Sabres’ offense. He has goals in each of his last four games. That run put him on pace for 56 goals over the course of an 82-game season. Missing five games knocked a few goals off of that pace for the 2024-2025 season, but Thompson has undoubtedly rebounded from a down season last year.
The boost comes at the right time for the Sabres, whose goal-scoring has tailed off a bit. Buffalo failed to score until the third period in Los Angeles, until the final minute and a half of the second in Anaheim, and had only one goal until the third period in San Jose. The slow starts are the opposite of previous games, where the Sabres were growing accustomed to scoring early in periods and games.
Thompson pushes the depth back throughout the lineup, which in turn should help the secondary scoring as well.
Sabres Powerplay
The powerplay units also returned to form with Tage Thompson back in the fold. Zucker resumed his net-front role as Tuch shifted back to the second unit. Cozens, Peterka, and Dahlin all worked with Thompson and Zucker. Tuch was joined by Benson, Kulich, Byram, and Power.
Notably, Jack Quinn was not practicing with the powerplay units, which is further evidence that he will likely be the healthy scratch on Wednesday.
Sabres Starting Goaltender
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was in the starter’s net in practice, while James Reimer worked on the other end. Reimer had a spectacular 31-save performance against the Sharks, but it was merely an echo of what Luukkonen had done in Los Angeles and Anaheim.
Buffalo’s goaltending is a big reason for their recent 7-3-0 run. It vaulted them into a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference standings, sitting as a Wild Card team. The Sabres are currently tied with the Boston Bruins at 23 points with one game in hand.
This article first appeared on Buffalo Hockey Now and was syndicated with permission.
