Sabres at Lightning | How to watch, lineup notes, and storylines

TAMPA – The Buffalo Sabres play their final road game of the season against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Sunday.

The Sabres are finishing a three-game road trip, which opened with a 3-2 loss in Columbus on Thursday and continued with a shootout loss by the same score in Florida on Saturday.

Despite the lack of wins, both games showed positive trends that carried over from the Sabres’ five-game winning streak prior to the trip. They generated 41 shots, their second-highest total of the season, in Columbus. In Florida, they responded to a questionable hit on rookie Jiri Kulich with a fight and a third-period comeback.

“It was a real team effort out there,” captain Rasmus Dahlin said postgame on Saturday. “Good special teams and guys were stepping up when we needed. On the road, one point is always important and I’m happy we got it today.”

All told, Buffalo is 8-2-1 in its last 11 games entering the road finale against the Lightning.

The puck drops at 6 p.m. Here’s what you need to know in the meantime.

How to watch

TV (Buffalo broadcast market): MSG (Pregame coverage begins at 5:30 p.m.)

Streaming (out of market): ESPN+

Radio: WGR 550

Click here for more ways to watch Sabres games.

Lineup notes

Owen Power exited Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury and is unlikely to play against the Lightning, coach Lindy Ruff said postgame.

Jacob Bryson was the Sabres’ lone healthy scratch on Saturday, so he figures to draw back into the lineup with Power out.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen started the front end of the back-to-back, so look for James Reimer to likely get the nod on Sunday. Reimer had won a career-best seven straight starts prior to Thursday’s loss in Columbus. He has a .918 save percentage in his last eight games.

Storylines

1, About last night

The Sabres rallied to the defense of rookie Jiri Kulich after he took an open-ice hit from Panthers forward Jonah Gadjovich late in the second period. Dahlin and Zach Benson jumped on Gadjovich immediately after the hit while Alex Tuch fought the Panthers forward early in the third period.

Buffalo, down 2-1 at the time of the hit, then earned a late 5-on-3 power play as the result of another post-whistle scrum involving Dahlin and Benson. JJ Peterka scored the game-tying goal with the two-man advantage.

“There was a lot of good when it comes to jumping in there and keeping the team nice and tight and looking after each other,” Ruff said.

Read more in Saturday’s Postgame Report.

2. Dahlin steps up

Dahlin – who celebrates his 25th birthday on Sunday – had a goal and an assist against the Panthers for his fifth multi-point performance in the last eight games. He finished the night with 28:20 in ice time, his third-highest total of the season.

Dahlin is now tied for fourth among NHL defensemen in both goals (17) and points (66). He was asked about his personal production after the game on Saturday.

“I don’t know what to say, really,” he said. “We’re out of a playoff spot. It sucks. Just trying to build for next year and play as good as I can here at the end of the season. Points come when teams are playing good, so we’ve just got to keep getting better every day.”

3. Scouting the Lightning

The Sabres are playing Tampa Bay for the third time since the beginning of March, with the home team having won each of the previous matchups.

The Lightning won 6-5 at Amalie Arena on March 6 behind a hat trick from Jake Guentzel. The Sabres answered with a 3-2 shootout victory at KeyBank Center on April 5, receiving 22 saves from Reimer.

Tampa Bay is jostling with Florida for home-ice advantage in their upcoming first-round playoff matchup. The two teams are tied with 98 points, though the Lightning have played one fewer game.

The Lightning boast four players with 30-plus goals in Brayden Point (41), Guentzel (38), Brandon Hagel (35), and Nikita Kucherov (34). Kucherov’s 116 points are tied for first in the NHL.

Game notes

• Peterka has scored a goal in three consecutive games. A goal tonight would match the longest streak of his career.
• Ruff remains one win shy of reaching 900 career regular-season wins. He would become the fifth coach to hit that milestone, joining Scotty Bowman (1,244), Joel Quenneville (969), Paul Maurice (916) and Barry Trotz (914).