Buffalo 3, Tampa Bay 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, February 29, 2024
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Referees:
T.J. Luxmore, Francois St. Laurent
Linesmen:
Julien Fournier, Matt MacPherson
Attendance:
19092
By Field Level Media
Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin netted a power-play goal 1:42 into overtime and the visiting Sabres beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 Thursday night to win for the fourth time in five games.
After the Lightning's Nikita Kucherov went off for hooking Tage Thompson early in the extra session, Dahlin finished a give-and-go with Casey Mittelstadt as Buffalo improved to 8-2-0 in road matches since Jan. 1.
Alex Tuch and Thompson also scored and Buffalo goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 21 saves to record his 18th win.
Buffalo played without defenseman Erik Johnson, who was dealing with the flu after skating for just one period in Tuesday night's 3-2 loss at the Florida Panthers.
The Sabres ended February with a 6-5-0 mark.
The Lightning got goals from Brayden Point and Mitchell Chaffee. NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov notched an assist to bring his point total to 104.
Brandon Hagel went scoreless and had his 14-game point streak end. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 20 shots in his ninth start in the past 10 games.
The Lightning finished the month 5-6-1.
To open their five-game homestand, the Lightning were aggressive early as both Hagel and Kucherov hit the posts next to Luukkonen in the first five minutes.
On the home side's first power play, Point found a deflected puck off Dahlin's stick and slid in his 31st goal at 8:12.
It was Point's 10th tally on the man advantage. Kucherov and Victor Hedman earned assists.
During a Sabres possession, Point gained control of the puck but turned it over right to Tuch, who skated into the slot and buried his 17th goal, an unassisted one, at 10:59.
After denying the Lightning on their second power play following an elbowing penalty by Mittelstadt, Buffalo fell behind again when Chaffee went to the front of the net and clipped a slap shot by Erik Cernak.
The puck found its way past Luukkonen for Chaffee's third tally at 17:18 of the second period. Anthony Cirelli posted the secondary helper on the go-ahead goal.
In the third period, the Sabres cashed in on their first power play when Thompson ripped his 18th goal at 11:33 on the short side by Vasilevskiy.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Buffalo |
|
Tampa Bay |
|
Rasmus Dahlin 2 |
Points |
Mitchell Chaffee 1 |
|
Rasmus Dahlin 1 |
Goals |
Mitchell Chaffee 1 |
|
Rasmus Dahlin 1 |
Assists |
Erik Cernak 1 |
|
Rasmus Dahlin 1 |
Power Play Goals |
Brayden Point 1 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen .913 |
Save Percentage |
Andrei Vasilevskiy .870 |
|
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 21 |
Saves |
Andrei Vasilevskiy 20 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Buffalo
|
23 |
3 |
2-3 |
2-3 |
6 |
20 |
| Tampa Bay
|
23 |
2 |
1-3 |
1-3 |
6 |
27 |
Upcoming Games
-
Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against Montreal. The Lightning have a W/L % of .485 after a win and .552 after a loss.
-
Buffalo will play their next game at home against Vegas. The Sabres have a W/L % of .222 after a win and .667 after a loss.
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