Cozens, Sabres defeat Lightning in OT for 1st victory

BUFFALO -- Dylan Cozens scored at 1:46 of overtime to give the Buffalo Sabres their first win of the season, 3-2 against the Tampa Bay Lightning at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.

Cozens scored with a wrist shot from high in the right face-off circle that went in off the left post.

“That was big to get that win, especially after giving up a goal with seven seconds left,” Cozens said. “That would be frustrating to lose that game. But those are the types of games we need to win. Low-scoring, gritty games and games where we just find a way.”

The Lightning forced overtime at 19:53 of the third period when Brandon Hagel jammed in a puck at the side of the net to tie it 2-2.

“I had no idea what time it was,” Hagel said. “Everything kind of was feeling slow motion and then [Brayden Point] just kept throwing it at the net, so I'm like, oh, there must be only seconds left. So I'm just trying to get a stick on it, trying to get it at the net and maybe something happens, and something did happen.”

Zemgus Girgensons and Jeff Skinner scored, and Devon Levi made 21 saves for the Sabres (1-2-0).

“I felt our guys had that sense of objective the entire game but had to fight really hard and really late to get it,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “I told them they earned it. They deserved the win by the effort, by the focus and circumstances throughout. Lots of different challenges, but they plowed through it.”

Hagel scored twice, and Jonas Johansson made 28 saves for the Lightning (1-2-1), who lost their third in a row.

“It’s obviously a step in the right direction,” Hagel said. “I mean [one point is] better than none. I thought we played fine tonight. I think we had the puck lots, did everything but get it past them one more time in extra time. We didn't touch the puck once, and sometimes that happens and they were able to find one. But a lot better, I thought.”

Girgensons gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 8:57 of the first period. With the Lightning on a line change, Girgensons took a pass from Tyson Jost at the offensive blue line and carried it into the left circle before scoring to the far side.

Skinner made it 2-0 at 15:28 when Owen Power fed him to the right of the net with a pass from just inside the blue line and Skinner lifted the puck under the crossbar.

Hagel cut it to 2-1 at 17:58 of the second period on a one-timer after the puck came out from behind the net and into the slot.

“I just thought we got better and better,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “I never felt that we were in trouble. It's unfortunate we didn't touch the puck in overtime, but they deserved for sure a point, maybe two out of that. You’ve just got to keep plugging away. This league can humble you and you’ve got to have that mental fortitude to fight your way through it. But you're going to look at a lot of what we've done as a group, it's been excellent. We just haven't been able to generate when we've needed to.”

Buffalo defenseman Mattias Samuelsson left the game early in the third with an upper-body injury. 

“I expect it [to be] day to day,” Granato said. “I would expect that he should feel better tomorrow, but we'll see. But it doesn't seem like it'll be much more than day to day.”

NOTES: Hagel has nine points (five goals, four assists) in six games against Buffalo, which selected him in the sixth round (No. 159) of the 2016 NHL Draft. … Point’s assist on the tying goal was his 467th NHL point, moving him past Alex Killorn into sole possession of seventh place in Lightning history. Point has 218 goals and 249 assists. … Tampa Bay defenseman Erik Cernak played 17:57 in his 300th NHL game. … The Sabres have won three straight against the Lightning for the first time since defeating them four consecutive times from Oct. 24, 2009, to March 27, 2010.