(WGR 550) - The Sabres imploded in the third period on Monday night, but playing well in the second and getting outscored 2-1 got things started.
The Sabres outshot Tampa Bay 16-5 in the second period and got the period going fast. Jimmy Vesey walked in on a breakaway and scored his first goal as a member of the Sabres to make it 2-1, but Andrei Vasilevskiy slammed the door the rest of the way.
Victor Olofsson hit the post, Vesey almost scored again right after the first goal, but the Lightning took the lead scoring goals the way they're supposed to be scored.
Mikhail Sergachev took a shot from the point on the power play with traffic in front, the puck hit a Sabres player and went in.
Just 2:06 later, Yanni Gourde was camped out in front and tipped in a shot and the Lightning led 3-2.
Through it all, the Sabres still have an excellent chance to get points if they can kill off two penalties in the first 6:13 of the period. They did that, and then they totally imploded and showed how fragile they are, and have been for many years.
On the power play, you would think the Sabres would be up and ready to go. They're only down a goal and are pressing and skating well. Forget the fact they are 1-for-31 lately on the power play, just show desperation and take the game back.
What happened instead were careless passes and a team that played like a losing team. Cedric Paquette scored a shorthanded goal on a breakaway, and then just 49-seconds later, Ondrej Palat gets a layup on a shorthanded 2-on-1 and the game went to 5-2.
Right after the fifth goal, the Sabres had totally packed it in when Anthony Cirelli was allowed to walk right in and score, but the Sabres got a break for goaltender interference.
By then, this team had mentally crumbled and the Lightning cruised the game into the garage. Buffalo had three shots on goal in the third when the game was up for grabs.
This was a trip where the Sabres played well enough, at times, to win all three games, but they're really only good enough to go home with one win.
Jason Botterill did a good job of adding to this team, but it wasn't enough. He only subtracted Jason Pominville and kept players that time and time again have shown that they aren't mentally tough, and when things get tough, they'll crumble.
The Sabres lost Rasmus Dahlin for half of the game when he was hit in the head with a vicious elbow from defenseman Erik Cernak. The referees didn't call a penalty, and now we get to see if the league has the guts to suspend Cernak for at least 10 games. The Sabres say Dahlin has a concussion.
The Sabres have Tuesday off before hosting Calgary on Wednesday night.
