Sabres fall to Lightning in road finale 

TAMPA – The Buffalo Sabres concluded their final road trip of the season with a 7-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Sunday.

The Lightning scored four goals during the second period, which opened with the Sabres leading 2-1. Shots in that period were 15-7 in favor of Tampa Bay.

Buffalo finished the road trip with a 0-2-1 record after winning eight of its previous nine games. The team concludes the season with a pair of home games next week.

“I thought we lost puck battles, got on the wrong side of the puck and (played) poor defensively that led to goals against,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "They beat us to pucks and their sustained O-zone time sometimes led to great opportunities. We couldn’t get people off the ice.”

The Sabres opened the game with a slew of scoring chances, including a pair of shots that went off the post and a shot from Tage Thompson that deflected wide off the stick of Lightning goaltender Jonas Johansson.

Tampa Bay opened the scoring on a goal from Jake Guentzel with 3:25 remaining in the first period, but Buffalo’s quality chances eventually paid off during the final minute. Jiri Kulich put the Sabres on the board with 22.3 seconds left, followed 15 seconds later by a goal from Connor Clifton, his first of the season.

“If you look at some of the chances we had in the first period, we had four or five point-blank,” Ruff said. “… I just think those quick couple goals they got in the second deflated us. We never recovered.”

Ryan McDonagh ignited the Lightning response 3:02 into the second period with a one-time goal scored from the high slot. Nikita Kucherov put the Lightning ahead less than four minutes later, bursting through the neutral zone and pushing his own rebound over the goal line after his initial shot went off the post.

Tampa Bay tacked on two more goals in a span of 2:19 late in the period. Conor Geekie scored following a turnover behind the Buffalo net, burying a high rebound that fell at his feet in the slot. Emil Lilleberg added the next goal on a one-timer from the point.

“We didn’t manage the puck,” Clifton said. “They’re a highly skilled team and we just gave them odd-man rushes the whole second. They obviously scored some goals.”

Kucherov added a fifth-consecutive goal for Tampa Bay 2:39 into the third period.

“We just didn’t play as we should,” Peyton Krebs said. “We weren’t getting pucks deep, we didn’t make good plays at the blue line, and they capitalized. Their big dogs make plays and we’ve got to know that in the second period. We just didn’t play our defense good enough.”

Tuch responded for Buffalo on a 5-on-3 power play with 11:21 remaining, but it was as close as Buffalo would come. Guentzel added the seventh Tampa Bay goal on the power play less than five minutes later.

Sam Lafferty scored the Sabres’ fourth goal on a rebound off the end boards with 1:37 left to play. Rasmus Dahlin assisted on the play to complete his third straight multi-point game.

Here’s more from the loss.

1. The Sabres were without defenseman Owen Power, who left Saturday’s game in Florida with a lower-body injury. Ruff said Power will be evaluated by doctors in Buffalo but is expected to be out “for a little while.”

Jacob Bryson entered the lineup in place of Power and skated 15:40.

2. Buffalo called timeout to take a longer look at McDonagh’s goal at the start of the second period, questioning whether Guentzel had entered the offensive zone offside. Ruff and his staff ultimately decided against challenging without a definitive camera angle.

“It was so close,” Ruff said. “But there was nothing we saw that was definitive.”

3. James Reimer started in goal for the Sabres and made 26 saves. Tampa Bay finished the night with a 31-25 lead in shots.

Reimer had won seven straight starts prior to this road trip, which opened with a 27-save loss to Columbus.

“We’re in a spot right now where we’re trying to make our game better and we obviously only have a couple left but, you know, we’re playing for each other and Buffalo and especially our goalies,” Clifton said.

4. Tuch’s goal was his 35th of the season, one shy of his career-high total set during the 2022-23 season.

5. Kulich scored his 15th goal, making him the seventh Sabres rookie to hit the mark since 2005-06.

6. The Sabres finish the season with a two-game homestand at KeyBank Center, where they have won seven straight games. They host the rival Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, then conclude the season against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.

“These last two home games are really big,” Krebs said. “We want to show our home crowd what we’ve got and end the season on a good note.”

Up next

The Sabres return home to host the Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Tickets are available here.

Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7.