At the Horn | Lightning 3 - Sabres 1

Dylan Cozens scored the lone goal for the Buffalo Sabres in a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning inside KeyBank Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Sabres outshot the Lightning 25-16 but fell behind 2-0 during the first period on goals from Nick Paul and Tyler Motte. Calvin de Haan added an empty-net goal with 1:16 remaining.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen started for the fifth consecutive game and made 13 saves. Jonas Johansson made 24 saves for Tampa Bay.

The game concluded a season-long, six-game home stand for the Sabres during which they went 3-3-0.

SCORING SUMMARY

Period 1, 6:14 – Nick Paul from Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli (1-0, TBL)

Tampa Bay opened the scoring on its first shot of the night, the product of a turnover forced by Cirelli along the boards in the Buffalo zone. Cirelli drove toward the net and passed off to Hagel, who made a quick feed to set up Paul’s one-timer from the right circle.

The Sabres had controlled play for much of the period prior to Paul’s goal, including a shot from JJ Peterka that rang the post.

Period 1, 7:06 (SH) – Tyler Motte unassisted (2-0, TBL)

The Lightning doubled their lead on their second shot of the night, just 52 seconds after Paul’s goal. Motte forced a turnover at the Tampa Bay blue line with the Sabres on their first power play of the night and scored on a shorthanded breakaway.

Period 2, 13:52 – Dylan Cozens from JJ Peterka and Rasmus Dahlin (2-1, TBL)

Peterka chased down the rebound off a shot from Dahlin, carried it behind the net, and found Cozens in front to put the Sabres on the board midway through the second period.

Cozens was back in the lineup after missing the Sabres’ win over Chicago on Thursday with an upper-body injury. The goal was his eighth this season.

Period 3, 18:44 – Calvin de Haan from Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul

The Sabres outshot the Lightning 15-2 during the third period but were unable to push the tying goal past Johansson. de Haan scored into the empty net to end the comeback big with 1:16 remaining.

HIGHLIGHTS

POSTGAME COMMENTS

GAME PHOTOS

UP NEXT

The Sabres open a three-game road trip through California in Anaheim on Tuesday. The game can be streamed exclusively on ESPN+ and Hulu with puck drop scheduled for 10 p.m. Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray will have the radio call on WGR 550.