Tage Thompson stays hot as Sabres handle Avalanche

Tage Thompson had a goal and two assists, Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and an assist, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen turned away 40 shots, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 in Denver on Thursday night.

Alex Tuch and Dylan Cozens also scored and Tyson Jost had an assist against his former team. Jost, a 2016 first-round pick by Colorado, played five-plus seasons with the team before he was sent to Minnesota for Nico Sturm on March 15.

It was his first game in Denver since being traded at last season's deadline.

Mikko Rantanen had a goal, Evan Rodrigues scored in his return after missing nine games, Valeri Nichushkin had two assists and Alexandar Georgiev had 17 saves for the Avalanche, who had won two straight.

The Sabres, who have won four of their past six, struck first when Thompson scored 56 seconds in. He got the puck in the slot, stickhandled in front of Georgiev and slid a backhander in for his 24th goal. Thompson, who had a five-goal game last week, has three goals and three assists in the last two games.

The Avalanche took a minor penalty a few minutes later and Buffalo capitalized. Dahlin's shot from the point was saved but Georgiev didn't control it and Tuch knocked it in at 7:08 for his 15th goal.

Colorado carried the play for most of the second period but the Sabres then added to the lead.

Jost battled along the half-boards and got the puck to Dahlin alone in the slot. His snap shot went off the inside of the left post and in to make it 3-0 at 17:11. It was his 10th goal of the season.

The Avalanche finally broke through after applying heavy pressure to open the third. Valeri Nichushkin brought the puck down the left boards and into the Buffalo zone. He sent a pass through the slot to Rantanen, who beat Luukkonen at 8:20 for his 20th goal of the campaign.

Georgiev came off for an extra skater with 3:07 left and Rodrigues scored at 18:38, his seventh of the season, but Cozens netted his 11th into the empty net at 19:02.