The Buffalo Sabres were eliminated in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Montreal Canadiens, and Tage Thompson’s scoring slump traced back to lower back injuries he said he was playing through. Buffalo’s postseason return after 2011 ended with
The moment the Sabres needed their top scorer most, the puck didn’t seem to find him the same way. Buffalo’s run ended in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where the Montreal Canadiens eliminated the team.
For the Sabres, it was a stark stop after a long wait. Buffalo hadn’t reached the postseason since 2011, but they pushed through the first round and beat the Boston Bruins before the Canadiens took over.
Tage Thompson, the Sabres star who had carried much of their offense in the regular season, struggled in that second-round series. He later detailed the injury that he said was part of what went wrong.
Thompson said he was dealing with some lower back injuries during the playoffs. When he was asked about the injury, he said he shouldn’t have answered the way he did, but he was heated after a loss, according to Matthew Bove of WKBW ABC 7.
Those playoffs didn’t start with a fresh body. This season was exceptionally long for Thompson, beginning last spring with Team USA at the World Championships. He scored the game-winning goal for the Americans in their first Worlds win in over 90 years. After that. he returned to Buffalo for a heavy regular season workload—playing 81 regular-season games—with another stint in between for Team USA at the Olympics.
Since the end of last year’s regular season, Thompson has played 111 games.
In the regular season, he led the Sabres with 81 points in 81 games. In the postseason, he scored 15 points in 13 games, but the way those points came mattered. Only one of them was a powerplay goal. Buffalo’s power play was a problem all spring long, and it ended up costing them in Game 7.
The lone man-advantage goal Thompson scored came on a dump-in from the neutral zone.
As the dust settles on Buffalo’s postseason return, the question now is how quickly Thompson can recover. The Sabres hope this is a minor injury that heals fully before training camp.
There was plenty of energy around the Queen City even as the losses stacked up. After an entire generation without springtime hockey, the run carried storybook details—from Josh Allen beer chugging to the Blade Gang arrival. But the bigger job comes next: making sure the team is back again.
The Canadiens move on, and they now face the Carolina Hurricanes.
For Buffalo, the offseason begins with one clear reality in focus—Thompson is a key piece of any next step, and his lower back needs to be fully right before the next camp opens.
Buffalo Sabres Tage Thompson Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup Playoffs lower back injury Matthew Bove WKBW ABC 7 power play Game 7 Boston Bruins Carolina Hurricanes Team USA World Championships Olympics