This game was filled with noteworthy stats for the Lightning. John Carlson recorded his first five-point game and reached 800 points in his career. Jake Guentzel registered his first four-assist game. Nikita Kucherov tallied a natural hat trick and had four points. Sam O’Reilly posted his first point in his first NHL game; it was an assist on Yanni Gourde's first goal of the season. Scott Sabourin also scored his first goal of the season. Overall, the Lightning scored a season-high eight goals—and they managed to do it on just 22 shots.
The Lightning broke a scoreless tie with two late first-period goals. Sabourin finished a rebound of a Conor Geekie in-alone rush chance at 18:49. On the next shift, Josh Doan lifted the puck out of play from the defensive zone, putting the Lightning on the power play. It took Tampa Bay just 16 seconds to score. After the Sabres pressured Kucherov at the right circle but failed to disrupt the play, they were out of position for what happened next. Charle-Edouard D’Astous wired a quick pass to Guentzel in at the side of the net. Guentzel delivered a pass to the opposite post, where Carlson swept it in at 19:38.
The first period was evenly played—both teams had some extended possession time and created scoring chances. Shots finished 9-9. Attempts were 16-15 for Buffalo.
Over the final 40 minutes, however, the Sabres tilted the ice. Attempts were 44-19 in favor of Buffalo during that time. The Sabres played aggressively, which helped them create dangerous looks but also left them open to counters. In the second period, the Lightning posted just four shots on net and eight attempts, but they scored two more goals. A John Carlson shot from the point was blocked, but the puck dropped to Brandon Hagel at the hashmarks. He zipped a shot past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen at 4:33. Then came the goal on which O’Reilly picked up his first NHL point. From his own blue line, he floated the puck forward to Guentzel, who had a two-on-one rush with Gourde. Guentzel got the pass through to Gourde, who finished at 13:02.
Just over a minute later, Beck Malenstyn checked Erik Cernak in front of the Lightning bench. Cernak’s head hit the glass where it bends around the end of the bench. Cernak was injured on the play. The Lightning came at Malenstyn, and Ilya Mikheyev was assessed a roughing minor. During the ensuring power play, Doan redirected a Ryan McLeod pass into the Lightning net. It came with 12 seconds remaining on the penalty.
The Sabres tallied a second goal in the final minute of the period. Jason Zucker finished a rush chance at 19:32. The Sabres brought that momentum into the start of the third, and Tage Thompson made it a one-goal game when he ripped a right-circle shot inside the far post at :33.
The next shift may have been the most pivotal one in the game. The Sabres nearly tied things, posting four shot attempts (all from Jack Quinn) while buzzing in the offensive zone. But Andrei Vasilevskiy made two saves; another was blocked; and one narrowly missed the net. Then Hagel grabbed the puck in the corner and chipped it ahead to Kucherov, who countered on a breakaway from the defensive blue line. Olen Zellweger tried to catch him (and took a penalty in the process), but Kucherov put a backhander past Luukkonen at 1:25. That goal reestablished a two-goal lead. The Sabres pulled Luukkonen for Colten Ellis at that point.
Minutes later, the Lightning had a potential icing waived off, and the Sabres ended up icing the puck themselves. On the ensuing faceoff, Anthony Cirelli won it to Carlson, who fed Kucherov for a right-circle one-timer that beat Ellis at 4:11. Just like that, the Lightning had gone up by three goals.
The Sabres continued to press, enjoying several extended offensive-zone shifts. But they got no closer. When they pulled Ellis for an extra attacker with 6:24 remaining, they won the o-zone faceoff. But Quinn was whistled for interference. Kucherov completed his natural hat trick on that power play that followed, finishing a right-circle shot off another Carlson feed at 14:13. Less than a minute later, while on a rush attack, Kucherov passed to Hagel in the slot, and Hagel wristed the puck past Ellis for the Lightning’s eighth goal of the night.
Despite holding the Lightning to just 22 shots and 34 attempts, the Sabres allowed high-danger chances that the Lightning converted. At the other end, the Sabres generated plenty of good looks themselves, but only three of their shots found the back of the net.
The Lightning will have little time to enjoy this victory. They complete the back-to-back in Columbus on Thursday.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Brian Engblom):
- Nikita Kucherov — Lightning. Natural hat trick, assist.
- John Carlson — Lightning. Career-high five points. 800 career points.
- Jake Guentzel — Lightning. Career-high four assists.
