Lightning Lose Game and Division Lead to Sabres

Graphic Credit: Mike Smith | Thunderstruck Sports

By Dan Herrejon | Thunderstruck Sports

After putting an emphatic end to their four-game losing streak, the Tampa Bay Lightning meet the Sabres in Buffalo. While the win in Toronto last night was satisfying in that it stopped the recent tailspin in its tracks. It's fair to say that a win today against the Sabres would require more than the win in Toronto. The Sabres come into today's game riding a six-game winning streak. Both Tampa and Buffalo have 82 points this season and are currently tied for first place in the Atlantic Division. This game could also be a preview for a potential playoff series. In net for the road team, Jonas Johansson starts between the pipes after Andrei Vasilevskiy got the win in Toronto last night.

Let The Game(s) Begin

Conventional wisdom says it's damn hard to win on the road in the NHL. Making things more challenging, in the first nine minutes of this game, the home team was given three power plays. Well, to be exact, the Lightning were whistled for two penalties during the four-minute mark, giving the Sabres a 5 on 3 power play. Buffalo failed to take advantage because they failed to get off a shot.

Shortly after that, the Lightning's Erik Cernak was called for interference, and after the first face-off, Josh Doan scored on the power play to give Buffalo a 1 - 0 lead. If anyone thought this would be a meaningless game, just one of 82 regular-season games, think again. In the first 10:40 of the period, there were three fights, two 10-minute misconducts, and 15 penalties. Each penalty box was standing room only.

Went to a Fight and a Hockey Game Broke Out

If anyone thought these two teams would revert to playing hockey after that penalty-laced first period, they had another thought coming. In the first six seconds of the second period, there were two fights. A heavyweight battle between Cernak for Tampa and Michael Kesseiring for Buffalo. Cernak appeared to hurt his hand and wouldn't return to the game. Four seconds later, a middleweight bout between Corey Perry and Beck Malenstyn. Both fights were draws. Perry, apparently trying for a Gordie Howe weekend with this fight to go along with his goal last night.

When the hockey game broke out, the Lightning again found themselves on the penalty kill. Again, the Sabres took advantage of the extra man, and Jason Zucker scored to give Buffalo a 2 - 0 lead.

When the fights resumed after the goal, we saw Brayden Point take on Rasmus Dahlin. Point looked like the winner on points. Unfortunately, when hockey resumed, the Lightning found themselves fighting a four-minute double minor penalty. Alex Tuch scored to give Buffalo a three-goal lead.

Perry decided to go for the Gordie Howe Hat Trick by getting the Lightning's first goal of the game. Perry needs an assist on the aforementioned Howe hatty. This goal gave the Lightning a little bit of life by cutting the Buffalo lead to 3 - 1.

Just when one would think the Lightning just might put up a fight (pun intended), they get a power play chance. Sure enough, a goal was scored seconds into this power play. Unfortunately, it was a short-handed goal by Tuch, giving the Sabres a 4 - 1 lead.

Still on the power play, the Lightning's Nikita Kucherov scored to make it 4 -2 Buffalo. So, maybe there is a chance.

A hockey game really broke out. In the last seven minutes of the second period, the Lightning scored two more goals to tie the game at four. First, Zemgus Girgensons snapped the puck past Buffalo goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to make it 4 - 3 in Buffalo's favor.

As the period was coming to an end, a forechecking Connor Geekie executed a beautiful stick lift in the Sabres zone, then passed the puck to J.J. Moser. Moser's first shot was blocked, but the puck came right back to him. On his second attempt, Moser blasted the puck into the net to tie the game at four.

The Wild Conclusion

Halfway through the previous period, the Lightning appeared doomed to lose this game. Buffalo held a 4 - 1 lead at the halfway point of the game, but somehow the Lightning clawed their way back to tie the game before the end of the second period.

Heading into the final regulation period, this game is up for grabs. The winner gets first place in the division. Which team wants it more?

It didn't take long to begin to get an answer. A whole 59 seconds into the third period, Kucherov scores on a brilliant pass from Brandon Hagel to break the tie and give the Lightning a 5 - 4 lead. Now all they have to do is hold the Sabres for 19 minutes. Easier said than done.

For five whole minutes, neither team scored, but we knew this game would have another goal. Sure enough, Brayden Point scored his 16th goal of the season to give the Lightning a 6 - 4 lead. Things couldn't look any better as Tampa scored its fifth unanswered goal.

This Buffalo team, riding a six-game winning streak coming into this game, wasn't about to go quietly in the good night answered back with a goal of their own 24 seconds later. Sam Carrick brought Buffalo back to a 6 - 5 deficit with just under 14 minutes left in the game.

It really began to feel like this was the type of game where whoever scored the last goal would win. Just about the halfway point of the period. Hagel scored on a rebound off a Darren Raddysh blast from the point to give the Lightning another two-goal lead at 7 - 5.

Now, the Lightning just have to hold the Sabres for ten minutes to escape with the win and the division lead. Give credit to the home team. They never quit. Dahlin scored to make it 7 - 6 Lightning. There were still nine minutes remaining. Worse for the visitors, the crowd could sense the shifting tide in the game.

Then, Zucker scored his second goal of the game to tie it at seven with five and a half minutes left in regulation. The crowd was so loud at this point that the ref's whistles couldn't be clearly heard. A little more than a minute later, Doan scored his second of the game to give Buffalo an 8 - 7 lead. That would be the final score.

It was a gutty effort for the Lightning to come back from a three-goal deficit to take a two-goal lead, but in the end, Buffalo is now the first-place team in the Atlantic Division.

Three Stars

1. Nikita Kucherov - Two goals and an assist for three points.

2. J.J. Moser - One goal and two assists while leading the team in ice time.

3. Brandon Hagel - One goal and one assist for two [points.

What's Next

After the 1 - 4 road trip, a little home cooking for the next three games, beginning Tuesday night, hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets at Benchmark Arena. Puck drops at 7:00 pm.