Tampa, Fla. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres concluded their 2023-24 season on a high note Monday night with a 4-2 road win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena.
The Sabres opened the scoring less than 90 seconds into the contest when Dylan Cozens cashed in on some loose change in front of Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for his 17th goal of the season.
The Lightning answered back, though, with an early second period goal of its own from captain Steven Stamkos, who tallied his 40th goal of the 2023-24 campaign. Nikita Kucherov tallied the lone assist on the goal to give him 99 assists this season.
The blue and gold responded two-and-a-half minutes later, and did so while playing shorthanded. Once again, it was Cozens doing the damage, as he fired a wrist shot past Vasilevskiy off a nice pass from behind the net from Jordan Greenway.
Buffalo doubled its lead later in the middle stanza when Greenway reached double-digits in goals in his first full season with the Sabres.
Once more, Tampa Bay clawed to within a goal as the game leaked into the third period. Defenseman Erik Cernak netted his second goal of the season at the halfway point to cut the Buffalo lead to 3-2.
That would be the closest the Lightning would get, though, as just 15 seconds later, Zach Benson and the Sabres put an end to any comeback aspirations to bring the game to its eventual 4-2 final score.
Eric Comrie earned his second win of the season between the pipes, as he stopped 31-of-33 Lightning shots. It was his third-straight win against Tampa Bay.
The Sabres end their 2023-24 season on Monday with a 39-37-6 record, which is good for 84 points and a sixth place finish in the Atlantic Division.
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SCORING RECAP
First Period:
BUF: 1:26 - Dylan Cozens (17) (Jack Quinn, Bowen Byram)
TBL: NONE
Second Period:
BUF: 5:08 - Dylan Cozens (18) SHG (Jordan Greenway); 16:12 - Jordan Greenway (10) (Zemgus Girgensons, Tyson Jost)
TBL: 2:27 - Steven Stamkos (40) (Nikita Kucherov)
Third Period:
BUF: 9:54 - Zach Benson (11) (Jack Quinn, Dylan Cozens)
TBL: 9:39 - Erik Cernak (2) (Nick Paul)
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Losi & Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Dylan Cozens - BUF
2.) Eric Comrie - BUF
3.) Steven Stamkos - TBL
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What's next:
The Sabres will begin to clean out their lockers on Wednesday, while general manager Kevyn Adams and head coach Don Granato are set to speak with the media on Friday. Paul Hamilton will have coverage on WGR Sports Radio 550, along with recap articles of everything noteworthy from the week ahead.