Thirteen goals, one margin: Sabres outlast Ducks 6-7 as Thompson stacks five points

Thirteen goals. That is what it took to settle the night at Honda Center on October 30, where Buffalo Sabres walked out of Anaheim with a 6-7 win after the Ducks threw 35 shots at the Sabres net and still came up one short.

The scoreboard read 3-3 at the half, and the special teams kept feeding it. Anaheim converted 3 of 4 power plays at 75 percent, Buffalo 2 of 3 at 67 — five of the 13 goals arrived with a man advantage. The Ducks also outshot the Sabres 35-31, yet the only number that matters to Buffalo is seven.

There was a price for all that offense. Seven suspensions were shared 3-4 between the teams, splitting into 6-8 suspension minutes, and the parade to the box never let the game settle. The goaltenders earned their pay through it all: Ville Husso made 24 saves for Anaheim, Colten Ellis stopped 29 for Buffalo.

Tage Thompson was the difference. The Sabres center scored three times, set up two more and finished plus-3 — a hand in five of Buffalo's seven goals, from just 4 shots. Zach Benson added a goal and two assists, Peyton Krebs chipped in three helpers of his own, and all three finished plus-3. Anaheim's answer was Leo Carlsson, who set up three goals and put 5 shots on net, but his minus-1 told the story of a night the Ducks kept shooting and kept trailing.

Outshoot the visitors 35-31, win the power-play battle 75 to 67, and still lose 6-7 — Anaheim did everything but stop Thompson. Buffalo will take the two points and run.