The Tampa Bay Lightning came back to tie the score twice but never led on Monday in a 4-2 road loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
Buffalo grabbed a 1-0 lead early in the game on an Alex Tuch shot, but a Nikita Kucherov power-play goal tied the score.
The teams traded goals from Josh Norris and Jake Guentzel to stay tied before the Sabres reclaimed the lead on a tip near the net in the second period.
Buffalo closed the night with an empty-net goal.
Guentzel and Darren Raddysh each had two points for the Lightning, which got 25 saves from Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The Lightning are now 48-23-6 this season and close a back-to-back with Tuesday’s visit to play another divisional opponent in the Ottawa Senators.
Scoring summary
First period
BUF 1, TBL 0
5:42 Alex Tuch (30) - Bowen Byram, Ryan McLeod
The Sabres were the first team to score thanks to an Alex Tuch shot from the top of the circles.
BUF 1, TBL 1
11:44 Nikita Kucherov (43) - Jake Guentzel, Darren Raddysh - PP
A power-play goal from Kucherov in the right faceoff circle knotted the game at a goal a side.
BUF 2, TBL 1
14:04 Josh Norris (11) - Josh Doan, Zach Benson
The Sabres retook their lead on a Josh Norris shot in the right faceoff dot inside the near post.
Shots on goal: BUF 11, TBL 8
Second period
BUF 2, TBL 2
3:56 Guentzel (37) - Brayden Point, Raddysh
Tampa Bay tied the score again, this time on a top shelf rip by Jake Guentzel at the top of the left circle.
BUF 3, TBL 2
7:37 Jason Zucker (23) - Byram, Rasmus Dahlin
Buffalo’s third goal came on a netfront redirection by Jason Zucker.
Shots on goal: BUF 13, TBL 8
Third period
BUF 4, TBL 2
18:06 Jack Quinn (19) - Zucker, Ukko Pekka Luukkonen - EN
The Sabres added an empty-net goal for the lone score of the third period.
Total shots: BUF 29, TBL 25
