The Lightning followed Thursday’s subpar defensive outing in Carolina with another defensive clunker in this game versus the Sabres. Unlike the Carolina game, in which they rallied twice before losing by a goal, the Lightning trailed against Buffalo by a wide margin for the entire night.
The Sabres have plenty of skilled players, and the Lightning gave them plenty of space. Buffalo took advantage of the Lightning’s poor puck management and loose coverage to build a 4-0 first-period lead. Tampa Bay’s defensive problems continued in the second period. Jon Cooper pulled Andrei Vasilevskiy after the Sabres tacked on a fifth goal early in the middle stanza, but the move didn’t change the complexion of the game. Instead, the Lightning allowed a total of 20 second-period shots. Jonas Johansson made 16 saves during the stanza in relief.
Overall, the Lightning didn’t have a bad night in terms of generating scoring chances. But Buffalo goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was solid in stopping nearly all of the Lightning’s good looks. Tampa Bay did manage to put two pucks past him before the night ended, but the goals weren’t nearly enough to overcome the huge deficit.
Compounding matters, the Lightning lost two more players to injury: Gage Goncalves left in the second period, and Dominic James hurt his leg late in the contest.
The Lightning have been one of the best defensive teams in the NHL this season. They’ve taken a big step back since the Olympic break ended (Cooper even labeled the win over Toronto as a game in which the Lightning weren’t at their best defensively). They’ll look to regain their form when they begin a four-game trip Tuesday in Minnesota.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Rasmus Dahlin — Sabres. Goal and two assists.
- Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen — Sabres. 36 saves.
- Dominic James — Lightning. Goal.
