Killorn scores twice, Lightning rally past Sabres for fourth straight win

BUFFALO -- Alex Killorn scored two goals and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied for their fourth straight win, 6-4 against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.

Tyler Johnson had a goal and two assists for Tampa Bay (21-13-4), which trailed 4-1 midway through the second period. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves.
"I think just emotionally we weren't really in the game for some reason," Killorn said. "It seems like we've had really bad starts. … We ended up getting a goal at the end of the period. It gives us a little bit of hope, and third period we really took over."
WATCH: [All Lightning vs. Sabres highlights]
Jack Eichel scored shorthanded for his 25th goal of the season, and Conor Sheary had a goal and two assists for Buffalo (17-17-7), which has lost four in a row. Linus Ullmark made 21 saves.
"We were playing well, obviously a 4-1 lead, we have momentum and then we [throw] the game away," Eichel said.
Killorn scored a power-play goal on a rebound of Brayden Point's one-timer at 13:57 of the second period to make it 4-2.

Johnson turned a stretch pass from Ondrej Palat into a partial breakaway and put a shot between Ullmark's pads to make it 4-3 at 16:55.
"[Killorn] gets us one, but I thought the big goal was Johnson's," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "It's a big difference coming back into the room one down instead of two. When you're one down, you're feeling you're close. It was a big effort to come back."
Kevin Shattenkirk's shot from the slot tied it 4-4 at 6:20 of the third period, and Killorn's second goal of the game gave the Lightning a 5-4 lead at 8:08 when he spun away from defenseman Rasmus Dahlin in front.

Sheary gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead on a one-timer from the right circle with 57 seconds remaining in the first period.
Marcus Johansson took a Sheary pass attempt off the side boards and beat Vasilevskiy far side from the right circle at 2:12 of the second to make it 2-0.
Palat made it 2-1 with a power-play goal at 7:00 with a shot from the slot.
Jimmy Vesey scored top corner on a one-timer from the right circle at 8:12 to make it 3-1.
Eichel's 25th goal extended the Sabres lead to 4-1 at 9:56 when he deked Shattenkirk in the right circle, cut towards the net and lifted a backhand shot past an outstretched Vasilevskiy during a Lightning power play.

Anthony Cirelli scored an empty-net goal with three seconds left for the 6-4 final.
"We never expected the game to be over at 4-1, but you sure expected to have a much more controlled situation," Sabres coach Ralph Krueger said. "When we do get into these penalty, power play, specialty team situations, they seem to break our 5-on-5 momentum, and we need to stop changing our 5-on-5 game due to the feelings on the specialty teams.
"It was a change in momentum against a very dangerous team, but we are to blame. We gave them more than they actually took."

They said it

"At the beginning, we didn't skate very good. We were a little flat, and then halfway into the game we started chipping the puck. We were forechecking hard, we were winning battles, and that was it. … I think it's the third game in a row where the start wasn't good, so we have to focus on that and be better next game." -- Lightning forward Ondrej Palat
"We definitely got to put pucks on the net. There is a lot of control, there is a lot of O-zone time there, and without shots you're not going to get any fruit of the labor of the power play. And the shots have to hit the net, right? Just looks like [we're] squeezing it, trying too hard, forcing it, I'm not sure. The guys are working hard, but we're not working right in some ways. We've got to get back to the fundamentals and we've got to get back to the basics, and over and over again, and work on that until we get it going the right way." -- Sabres coach Ralph Krueger

Need to know

Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev left the game with 2:57 remaining after blocking a shot by Victor Olofsson. … Tampa Bay swept the season series against Buffalo for the second time (4-0-0 in 2016-17). The Lightning are 23-4-2 against the Sabres since the start of the 2013-14 season. … Sheary scored his first goal since Dec. 2 and matched an NHL career-high with three points. … Buffalo is 0-for-14 on the power play in its past five games.

What's next

Lightning: At the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, SUN, NHL.TV)
Sabres: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, SNW, NHL.TV)