The Sabres smother the Devils

Tage Thompson scores four, Devils go dark

Down two in Buffalo

This was a semifinal at KeyBank Center, Buffalo, and a loss meant going dark one step short of the final. The New Jersey Devils came in having finished 3rd of 32 last season. The Buffalo Sabres had finished 20th. Both had earned their place. New Jersey had already snuffed the Canadiens, the Islanders and the Bruins. Buffalo had doused the Senators, the Rangers and the Maple Leafs.

The Devils struck first. Max Willman tipped one in at 3:00 of the 1st, from Luke Hughes and Chris Tierney. Jesper Bratt added a wrist shot at 10:31, set up by Nico Hischier and Timo Meier. Buffalo trailed by two.

Thompson takes over

Tage Thompson answered 28 seconds into the 2nd with an unassisted wrist shot. At 17:29 of the same period he wristed home the equalizer off an Alex Tuch assist. The Sabres took all three penalties of the night, and New Jersey scored on none of them.

With 4:34 left in the 3rd, Thompson's backhand, from Rasmus Dahlin and Tuch, made it 3-2 and stood as the winner. Devon Levi stopped 28 of 30. Then the Devils' net sat empty and Buffalo cashed in twice: JJ Peterka at 19:22, and Thompson at 19:54, just 0:32 later, for his fourth. The Devils' flame went cold. Only three still burn.