Jets' 3rd-period rally falls short in loss to Sabres

Alex Tuch was pretty confident he could set up Tage Thompson for a goal on Thursday. He was right.

The Buffalo Sabres forward skated toward the side of the net and then quickly passed the puck back to Thompson for a one-timer that beat Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

Thompson's 34th goal of the season helped the Sabres beat the Jets 3-2 in Winnipeg to extend their win streak to five games.

"He's always ready for the puck, so when you can find him in an open area ... he's going to bury it," Tuch said.

Owen Power and Victor Olofsson also scored for the Sabres (26-19-3). Jeff Skinner and Rasmus Dahlin each had a pair of assists.

Eric Comrie stopped 19 shots for Buffalo, which was playing its third game of a four-game road trip and is 5-0-1 in its last six outings. It's the team's second five-game win streak this season.

WATCH | Olofsson scores decisive goal as Sabres down Jets:

3rd period goal by Olofsson holds up as the Sabres hang on to defeat Jets

2 years ago

Duration 0:42

Victor Olofsson's third period goal proved to be the winner as Buffalo took down the Jets 3-2.

Nate Schmidt and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored late third-period goals for the Jets (31-18-1), who are 2-4-0 in their last six games.

"We didn't really get out of our zone very well tonight," Schmidt said. "I don't think we had a lot of times where we had the puck on our stick and making the play to get out of the zone. Had a lot of times where we just weren't confident with it."

Hellebuyck made 33 saves for Winnipeg, which began a three-game homestand.

Despite having a pair of power plays in the scoreless first period, the Jets were outshot 13-6 and lost 14 of the period's 16 faceoffs.

Winnipeg did get a good opportunity four minutes into the second period on a three-on-one, but the Jets made too many passes and forward Nikolaj Ehlers could only manage a soft shot on net.

Power opened the scoring at 10:32 of the second with his third goal in as many games. He didn't score in his first 42 games this season, but is now the first rookie defenceman to record a three-game goal streak with the Sabres.

Buffalo's first pick and the first selection overall in the 2021 NHL draft, Power was praised by his teammates and head coach Don Granato.

"Owen is pretty amazing. Obviously, three goals in a row. I mean, it's impressive at his age," Granato said.

"The beauty of it is Dahlin sees him doing things that Dahlin can add to his game, and he's sitting there watching [Dahlin] and he adds to his game right away."

Thompson made it 2-0 at 14:15.

Tuch's assist on the goal gave him three goals and six assists over a seven-game point streak, the second-longest point run in his career.

Buffalo outshot Winnipeg 28-11 over two periods.

Skinner assisted on the goals by Olafsson and Thompson, running his point streak to six games with two goals and six assists.

Schmidt helped his team avoid a shutout with a power-play goal that went under Comrie at 15:14.

Dubois halved the deficit with 42 seconds left when he notched his 22nd goal of the season. The Jets pulled Hellebuyck, but couldn't send the game to overtime.

"We'll get a lot more consistent with our play when we stop being so stubborn with the puck," Jets head coach Rick Bowness said. "We'll play a lot faster, and when you're playing fast it's a lot more fun and you'll be a lot more consistent.

"We're slowing ourselves down and making it too easy for the opposition by our puck management."

The Jets host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.