Sabres’ Tage Thompson Will Miss ‘Significant Time’ After Taking Blocked Shot Off Left Hand
Losing 5-2 to the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins on Tuesday was the least of the Buffalo Sabres’ concerns, as they’ll now be without one of their top forwards for an extended period of time.
Tage Thompson suffered an upper-body injury while blocking a shot from Bruins defenceman Charlie McAvoy, causing him to leave the game midway through the second period. He did not return and sat out for the remainder of the contest.
It was the second – and final – time Thompson left the ice due to injury during Wednesday’s game. While he managed the pain from his earlier ailment, his second one proved to be too much to overcome.
“Tage is gonna miss some time here. Probably some significant time, unfortunately,” Sabres head coach Don Granato told reporters post-game. “Fought through the first injury. Couldn’t fight through the second one.”
The 26-year-old forward had a previous run-in with McAvoy during the opening 20 minutes, as the two skaters got tied up on a play in transition, causing the Sabres’ lethal sniper to fall to the ice surface. He briefly departed for repairs after sustaining a cut to his left leg.
Thompson was ruled questionable to return by the team before suiting up for the start of the middle frame.
It was an injury-riddled night for Thompson, who logged 5:38 minutes across six shifts against the Bruins, finishing with just one shot on goal. He also went 1-for-2 in the face-off circle in the losing affair.
Granato provided a somewhat encouraging update on his young centre’s status during Wednesday’s local radio hit on WGR 550, revealing he’ll likely be sidelined for several weeks rather than months. Still, he’s unlikely to return until next month at the earliest.
Adding Thompson to the shelf is another brutal blow for Buffalo, whose lineup was already without several regulars due to injury, including Alex Tuch (undisclosed), Zach Benson (lower body), Henri Jokiharju (illness), Jack Quinn (Achilles) and Eric Comrie (lower body).
It also won’t do any favours to the club’s rocky start to the campaign, as Tuesday night’s loss dropped them to 7-8-1 over 16 games, good for just 15 points – tied for third-fewest in the East. Though it’s still early, their playoff odds have plummeted to 14.9%, per MoneyPuck.
That’s a far cry from where most experts had them entering the 2023-24 season, as they were tabbed as a fringe playoff team. But so far, they’ve failed to deliver on that expectation, and things won’t get any easier in their next game versus the surprisingly competitive Winnipeg Jets on Friday.
Not having Thompson available will leave a gaping hole down the middle, and understandably so, as the towering 6-foot-6 righty leads the franchise in goals (91) and points (174) since the start of 2021-22.
Fresh off inking a seven-year, $50-million contract in August 2022, the 26th overall selection from 2016 proved his worth immediately by posting career-highs in goals (47), points (94) and average ice-time (18:35) across 78 games last season. That stellar performance led to his first career All-Star selection.
But Thompson was off to a modest start this season, scoring six goals and 12 points while averaging a new career-best 18:37 minutes per night over 16 contests.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: Doug Kerr. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.