Thompson’s 5-goal game sends Sabres past Blue Jackets 9-4

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Tage Thompson matched an NHL record by scoring four times in the first period and finished with five goals and an assist as the Buffalo Sabres won their third straight road game, 9-4 over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night.

Thompson’s outburst helped Buffalo score six times in the first 16:40 of the game.

Alex Tuch had a goal and three assists, Dylan Cozens added a power-play goal and two assists and Rasmus Dahlin finished with a goal and two assists. Peyton Krebs also scored. Jeff Skinner picked up four assists and Jacob Bryson had two. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 20 shots.

Patrik Laine and Gustav Nyquist each scored twice for Columbus.

Joonas Korpisalo stopped two shots before being pulled in the first in favor of Elvis Merzlikins, who stopped 15 shots through the second period. Korpisalo returned in the third and finished with six saves.

Columbus has lost six straight home games and five of its last six overall.

FLAMES 5, WILD 3

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Rasmus Andersson scored a tiebreaker at 15:57 of the third period and had two assists as Calgary beat Minnesota for its third straight win.

Tyler Toffoli scored twice, including an empty-netter, and Nazem Kadri and Blake Coleman added goals for Calgary. Elias Lindholm had three assists for the Flames.

Dan Vladar gave up two goals on his first three shots before settling in and finishing with 25 saves for his fourth straight victory.

Kirill Kaprizov extended his goal streak to an NHL-leading seven games for the Wild. Mason Shaw and Jon Merrill also scored for Minnesota, which had its four-game winning streak halted. Marc-Andre Fleury had 22 saves as his record fell to 9-6-1.

CAPITALS 4, FLYERS 1

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored two empty-net goals, Dylan Strome had a goal and an assist and Washington sent Philadelphia to its 13th loss in 15 games.

T.J. Oshie also scored for the Capitals, who finished 3-3 on a six-game trip. Charlie Lindgren made 29 saves.

Kevin Hayes scored for Philadelphia, and Carter Hart made 23 stops.

Ovechkin scored into an empty net with 1:35 left and added another empty-netter with 8.2 seconds left for his 15th of the season. Ovechkin has 795 career goals, good for third all-time. He is six goals away from tying Gordie Howe for second place. Wayne Gretzky, with 894 goals, tops the list.

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