The Tampa Bay Lightning couldn’t overcome a four-goal deficit in the first period on Saturday and went on to fall in a 6-2 game against the visiting Buffalo Sabres.
Tampa Bay is now 38-16-4 this season.
The Sabres held a 5-0 lead before the second minute of the second period on Saturday.
"It's really disappointing actually,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said postgame. “To be 50-plus games in, put ourselves in the position we are, and then come out and play like this (with) no pushback, no urgency, no drive, no attention to detail. We just gave a decently skilled team so much open ice. I'm surprised they didn't have 10. Really, really disappointed with our compete level."
Buffalo took advantage of a Lightning line change to open the scoring, as defenseman Rasmus Dahlin skated down the ice, pushed to the top of the circles and fired a shot inside the left goalpost 5 minutes, 25 seconds after the opening faceoff.
The Sabres doubled their advantage less than a minute later when forward Josh Norris’ shot snuck through the legpads of Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. Norris’ second goal of the game came before the midway point of the first period to make it 3-0, this time on a netfront redirection of a point shot from defenseman Bowen Byram.
The Sabres scored again before the end of the opening frame, as forward Tage Thompson powered to the net and deked before depositing his shot for a 4-0 lead with 4:54 left.
Buffalo defenseman Zach Metsa then made it 5-0 in the opening minutes of the second period, outwaiting Vasilevskiy on a shot after a Tampa Bay turnover in the defensive zone.
“They’re a good team, really good off the rush,” Lightning captain Victor Hedman said. “We gave up too many odd-man rushes, and they're gonna make you pay.”
Tampa Bay rookie forward Dominic James scored for a second straight game to get the Lightning involved in the scoring with 3:57 left in the second period, making it a 5-1 game.
Hedman denied a Sabres clearing attempt at the blue line and got the puck to Oliver Bjorkstrand at the right circle, where he tapped the puck to James near the net for a backhand finish.
Bjorkstrand appeared to make it a 5-2 game in the third period when the puck went in off his skate as he was dragged down on the power play, but the goal was overturned after review for a kicking motion.
The Sabres scored on their own power play moments later to make it 6-1.
“They were a better team today,” Bjorkstrand said. “Played fast, played better overall, so obviously it's on us to fix that issue.”
Hedman scored his first goal of the season for the 6-2 final score. He accepted a pass from Darren Raddysh atop the offensive zone and blasted a slap shot from the left point into the top right corner of the Buffalo net over the glove of Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
After entering the game in relief in the second period, goalie Jonas Johansson made 20 saves on 21 shots for the Lightning.
"He was great,” Hedman said of Johansson. “And you look at Vasy too and a couple of the saves he made in the first, he saved us from it being more than four. At the end of the day, we owe it to our goalies to be better. But for us, we win as a team, we lose as a team. Moving forward here, we gotta make sure that we get back to what works."
James and forward Gage Goncalves both left the game with apparent injuries for Tampa Bay. Cooper didn’t have any updates on their status postgame.
Tampa Bay will look to get back in the win column when they open a four-game road trip with next Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Wild.
“We're a proud group, and we know what works for us and when we're at our best how we play,” Hedman said. "We’ve just gotta get back to that and have a good practice on Monday and get back to our habits and get everyone together and make sure we're ready for a late one on Tuesday."
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
1. Rasmus Dahlin, BUF (Goal, 2 assists)
2. Josh Norris, BUF (2 Goals)
3. Victor Hedman, TBL (Goal, assist)
