Buffalo Sabres star forward Tage Thompson got in a rare fight to settle a personal score on Friday.

Thompson dropped the gloves with Stefan Noesen to get payback for a dirty hit the New Jersey Devils forward delivered to him last February that resulted in injury.

The two players fought immediately after a faceoff 2:24 into the first period – Thompson’s first shift of the game. He landed several huge punches.

“That was unbelievable,” Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin told WGR Sports Radio 550’s Paul Hamilton during the first intermission. “He’s a nail-gun. He’s not fun to fight against that’s for sure, We talked about it before the game, he didn’t want anyone to do it. He wanted to do it himself. Hell of respect for that. That’s big.”

The fight was in response to a headshot Noesen delivered to Thompson on February 2, knocking the elite goal-scorer, who already notched a goal and recorded an assist on the night, out of the game with an injury.

Even more galling was that no Sabres players on the ice avenged the hit to their star forward or went after Noesen.

“Yeah, that situation was embarrassing,” Dahlin said. “That’s never gonna happen again.”

In Friday’s game, the 6-foot-6 Thompson revealed that the two players had agreed before puck drop that hands would be thrown.

“I think we all know what happened last year,” Thompson said. “I didn’t really like the hit and talked to him in warmups and said he’d give me one. I respect that.”

The Sabres center also noted that he was appreciative of his teammates offering to fight for him.

“There were a lot of guys in the room asking, but I said I wanted to do it,” Thompson said. “I figured I’d take care my own business.”

The fight marked Thompson’s sixth regular-season bout. He’s notably thrown hands previously with Morgan Rielly, Jalen Chatfield, and former Capital Max Pacioretty.

While Thompson’s physicality garnered headlines across the NHL, the fight did little to change the losing ways for the Sabres. They lost 5-0 to the Devils as goaltender Jake Allen posted a shutout.

The Sabres’ record is now 9-11-4 and the team owns the fewest standings points in the Eastern Conference (22). They’ve dropped two straight games in regulation since defeating Carolina on Sunday and climbing back to .500.