Sabres' lead slips in 6-5 loss to Lightning

TAMPA – JJ Peterka’s second-period goal gave the Buffalo Sabres a two-goal lead, but the Tampa Bay Lightning stormed back to win 6-5 at Amalie Arena on Thursday.

Jake Guentzel scored a pair of goals 1:03 apart during the final three minutes of the second period to complete a hat trick and tie the game at 5-5, then Oliver Bjorkstrand – playing his first game for the Lightning after being acquired from Seattle on Wednesday – netted the winner 1:40 into the third.

The loss extended Buffalo’s winless streak to five games at 0-4-1.

“Our offense was there but we just gave them too much,” forward Dylan Cozens said. “They’re a team that’s going to capitalize if you give them chances, and they did that.”

The two teams traded four goals in a span of 3:19 during the first period, which set the tone for a high-scoring game. Tampa’s two goals during that run – scored by Nick Paul and Darren Raddysh – both deflected off the sticks of Sabres defensemen on their way past goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

Each time the Lightning scored, the Sabres answered. Rasmus Dahlin beat Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy with a shot on the rush just 16 seconds after Paul’s goal. Tuch answered Raddysh’s goal with a 2-on-1 shot that evened the score at 2-2.

The Sabres took their first lead of the night on a goal from Peyton Krebs with 2:51 remaining in the period.

“I didn’t like the first five minutes of the game,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “After that, I thought we skated well and made a lot of plays.”

The back-and-forth nature of the game continued into the second period, which opened with Guentzel scoring at the back door just 58 seconds in.

The Sabres regrouped once again, however, reclaiming the lead on a power-play wrister from Tage Thompson and then pulling ahead 5-3 when Peterka beat Vasilevskiy near-side from the right circle. It was just the third time this season that a team scored five goals against Vasilevskiy, who had a .944 save percentage in his previous nine games.

Buffalo came within three minutes of carrying its two-goal lead back to the dressing room. Guentzel made a strong individual effort to force a turnover in the corner of the Buffalo zone, then cut to the net to receive the puck and bury a backhand chance for Tampa Bay’s fourth goal with 2:17 left in the period.

Following Guentzel’s goal, a net-front scrum around Luukkonen saw Dahlin trade blows from across the net with both Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel. Cirelli received a minor penalty for roughing, but Dahlin was given a double-minor – one for roughing, and another for removing an opponent’s helmet. Guentzel completed his hat trick and tied the game on the ensuing Tampa Bay power play.

“I mean, my helmet got ripped off, too,” Dahlin said. “Two guys were punching me in the face. But the ref, he’s doing his job. We got [a power play] earlier and we took advantage of that one, so it goes both ways, I guess.”

Ruff felt the scrum did not warrant a power play for either side.

“I don’t know how you end up with the extra (penalty),” Ruff said. “Come on. A scrum like that, I mean, it should be even. I’m not buying into the extra penalty. I mean, [Dahlin] kind of took the first one off the start and then he took two or three punches to the head. What do you want him to do? I want him to do exactly what he did. Punch them back.”

Bjorkstrand scored what would stand as the winning goal right out of the gate in the third period, burying a loose puck after fellow trade acquisition Yanni Gourde battled in front of Luukkonen to deflect a shot from the point.

The Sabres pushed for the tying goal, but to no avail. Tuch raced to a loose puck in front of the Lightning net but was stuffed by Vasilevskiy on a backhand attempt. A late 6-on-4 power play turned into a 6-on-3 for the final 17 seconds of the game, but Thompson’s last-ditch one timer was blocked by Eric Cernak at the final horn.

Here’s more from the loss.

1. Jack Quinn did not play after the first period and Jordan Greenway did not return for the third. Both absences were the result of an illness.

“Quinn almost didn’t play and then felt he could,” Ruff said. “It just hit him really hard. He started throwing up on the bench.”

2. Peterka’s goal extended his point streak to seven games, a career high. He has 19 points (9+10) in his last 15 contests. And the two-point night gives him 51 (19+32) this season, passing his previous career high (50) from last season.

Up next

The Sabres conclude their road trip against the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Coverage on MSG begins at 5:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 6.