There was truly something in the air on Tuesday night as the Buffalo Sabres made Damar Hamlin proud with a 5-4 overtime over the Washington Capitals.
The entire team showed up to the arena in No.3 shirts to honor the Bills safety, who is still at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center after his scary collapse on Monday against the Cincinnati Bengals.
💛💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/C9SjfBSJ2W
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 3, 2023
Sabres winger Tage Thompson clearly had Hamlin on his mind in the Nation’s capital, scoring not only his third hat-trick in the 2022-23 campaign, but also netting his 30th goal of the season and bagging the winner three minutes into the extra period. Chills.
Tage’s January 3rd…
🔹 3 goals
🔹 3rd hat trick of the season
🔹 30th goal of the season
🔹 Winner 3 minutes into overtimeThis one was for you, Damar. pic.twitter.com/hWkFr3sk15
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 4, 2023
Sports has a special way of bringing people together and at this moment, Thompson made the entire city of Buffalo proud and paid tribute to Hamlin in the most epic way imaginable. The 25-year-old also tallied an assist in the game, helping the Sabres improve to 19-15-2. They’re now sitting in fifth place in the Atlantic Division.
Everyone from the NHL to NBA to NFL sent an outpour of support to Hamlin and his family late Monday evening and early Tuesday. The second-year player out of Pitt earned a starting spot in the Bills’ secondary in 2022 and has been doing a phenomenal job. The injury happened when Hamlin tackled Bengals WR Tee Higgins, got up briefly, then hit the ground and went into cardiac arrest. The game between the AFC foes was postponed and the NFL has yet to announce when it will be resumed.
For now, the only thing that is important is the health of Hamlin. He was in critical condition following the incident, but his vitals were back to normal as of Tuesday. The entire world is praying for the young man to pull through. Classy move by the Sabres to wear his number and what a time for Thompson to put up so many threes. God had something to say here.