'We just took it to another level' | Sabres sweep road trip with emphatic win over Lightning

TAMPA, Fla. – Rasmus Dahlin thought immediately about the opportunity awaiting him in Buffalo when his Olympic journey ended with Sweden earlier this month. Josh Norris referred to these late-season games as the biggest of his career.

Three games into this final push, the Sabres have risen to the occasion. They punctuated their road trip with an emphatic 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena on Saturday, their third straight victory.

The Sabres – alone in second place in the Atlantic Division – trail the first-place Lightning by four points with two head-to-head matchups remaining, both in Buffalo. (The Lightning do, however, have two games in hand.)

With each passing win, the tenor in the Sabres’ dressing room has been business as usual.

“We don’t get too high, we don’t get too low,” Dahlin said. “We just stick with it and work really hard. There was a lot of goals today, but we had a lot of blocked shots, a lot of good box outs. We’re playing the right way and it’s hard to play against us right now.”

Playing on the second of back-to-back nights (a situation they’ve thrived in this season), coach Lindy Ruff implored his team pregame to “put the heat on” the Lightning early. The Sabres answered that call with a dominant four-goal first period.

Dahlin and Norris opened the scoring with goals scored 50 seconds apart, then Norris added a second goal three minutes later. Tage Thompson tacked on the fourth goal late in the first period, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made crucial early saves, including a breakaway stop on Jake Guentzel.

Zach Metsa pounced on a turnover for the Sabres’ fifth goal early in the second period, prompting the Lightning to pull goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. He’d been arguably the hottest goaltender in the NHL, having gone 17-0-1 in his previous 18 games.

In fact, Tampa Bay was the only NHL team with more wins than Buffalo since the Sabres’ season turnaround began on Dec. 9. The Lightning had won 11 straight games on home ice and Nikita Kucherov, a Hart Trophy candidate, had points in 12 consecutive games.

Each of those streaks ended Saturday.

“It just shows that we’re a really good team,” Norris said. “We’ve known that for a while now. But we just reset and today’s a new game. We just go out there and do our thing. I think we just have a lot of belief in ourselves right now. It’s a lot of fun playing.”

“We just took it to another level, which was unreal,” added Dahlin.

The Lightning got on the board with a goal from Dominic James late in the second period, but never truly threatened a comeback. Alex Tuch scored on the power play to restore the Sabres’ five-goal lead early in the third.

And, when the Lightning ratcheted up their physicality in response to the deficit, the Sabres answered without ever crossing the line into unnecessary penalties or risky situations. Ruff pointed in particular to the response from rookie Noah Ostlund, who jumped on Brayden Point after the Lightning forward slashed Dahlin.

It may not have been Ostlund’s comfort zone, yet he responded without hesitation.

“The boys were fired up,” Norris said. “That was awesome. I don’t know if he was throwing the left, the right or what. But at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.”

The Sabres had nearly won their first matchup with the Lightning in Tampa earlier this month but allowed the tying goal during the final minute of regulation and lost in overtime, a result that was still on their minds heading into the rematch.

You can bet the Lightning will draw some motivation from this one, too. The next matchup is Sunday, March 8 at KeyBank Center.

“We knew coming into this game this was going to be playoff-type hockey, a division game, and it was two really important points here,” Dahlin said. “We know we’re gonna play them two more times and hopefully we can keep doing what we’re doing.”

Here’s more from the win.

Norris nets two

Norris scored his first two goals since Jan. 10, having missed more than a month in between with an upper-body injury.

His first goal came on the rush, the result of a quick sequence of passes from Metsa and linemate Josh Doan. Norris ended up with the puck beside the net and faked as if he were going to pass, instead slipping a sneaky shot in past Vasilevskiy.

Norris said he’s attempted the same move often in practice, adding that Sabres goalie Colten Ellis sees it coming every time.

“It’s something I’ve done quite a bit,” he said.

Norris added his second goal on a deflection of a shot from Bowen Byram.

Metsa’s two-point outing

After assisting on Norris’ first goal, Metsa made a highlight-reel play for a goal of his own to earn his first two-point outing in the NHL.

Metsa intercepted an attempted breakout pass by Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli, then patiently toe-dragged past defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous to set up a one-on-one opportunity with the goaltender. He roofed his shot to end Vasilevskiy’s night.

“It’s pretty cool,” Metsa said of the offensive performance. “Feels pretty good. I’m never really chasing it. I at least try not to, I feel like I get in trouble when I do. Just trying to play the right way and good things have always happened for me. Tonight was one of those nights.”

The game was the continuation of what’s been a storybook season for Metsa, an undrafted rookie who had been playing for Rochester on an AHL contract prior to this season. He returned to the Amerks while the Sabres were on the Olympic break, then rejoined the NHL club and played a role in all three wins on the trip.

“I’m really close with everyone there (in Rochester),” he said. “Like, a lot of those guys are some of my best friends. I love being there. I love being here. So, it’s kind of a win-win for me. I’ve got the best of both worlds.”

Benson returns

Zach Benson returned to the lineup for the Sabres, skating 13:39 with an assist. Benson had been out since sustaining an upper-body injury in Florida on Feb. 2.

Quick hits

• The Sabres improved to 8-0-1 in their last nine road games.
• Thompson extended his point streak to seven games. He and linemate Peyton Krebs connected on four goals during the road trip.
• Buffalo’s power play has now scored a goal in eight of the last nine games.

Postgame sound

Up next

The Sabres return home to host the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. The team will host a “Gold Medal Homecoming” in honor of Thompson, with all fans in attendance receiving a commemorative rally towel.

Tickets are available here.

Coverage on MSG begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7.