Tampa, Fla. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - If you would’ve said the Buffalo Sabres were going to head to Florida on back-to-back nights and take 3-of-4 points from the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, you likely would’ve taken that.
That’s exactly what the Sabres did, taking a win over the Panthers on Monday, followed by a 4-3 overtime loss to the Lightning on Tuesday.
The Sabres weren’t at all satisfied with that because of the way they lost on Tuesday. The win gave Tampa Bay a 18-1-1 record in their last 20 games, but it was heartbreaking for Buffalo.
Buffalo came into the third period tied at 1-1. Colten Ellis had been spectacular in goal, making 22 saves, and the Sabres just needed to play one solid period to win a hockey game.
Mattias Samuelsson scored his second goal of the game to take the lead, but Oliver Bjorkstrand converted a Darren Raddysh blast on the power play to tie it again, 2-2.
The Sabres then got a power play of their own and with 5:07 left in regulation, Tage Thompson made a gorgeous pass to the crease and Josh Doan steered home the goal to take the lead again.
Buffalo is very good at empty-net goals, but in this one, Alex Tuch’s attempt went wide of the yawning cage.
The Lightning then started slinging the puck around the Buffalo zone with a lot of zip, and the NHL leader in assists, Nikita Kucherov, found Raddysh in the middle alone and he wasted no time unloading an absolute laser to tie the game at 3-3 with just 26 seconds remaining in regulation.
That added to the defenseman’s team record of goals in five-straight games. His 17 goals ranks third among all NHL defensemen.
In overtime, the Sabres had quite a bit of the puck possession.
Rasmus Dahlin had a golden opportunity, leading a 2-on-1, as the Lightning let him walk right down the slot. However, he missed the net.
Buffalo was outshooting Tampa Bay, 5-0, in the extra session and then disaster struck.
Kucherov fanned on his first pass from below the goal line, and Peyton Krebs stepped into the lane to stop him. That allowed Jake Guentzel to take off, and Kucherov didn’t miss on his second attempt. His stretch pass traveled over two lines, and Guentzel was in alone on Ellis, and he seemed to beat the Sabres goalie easily through the five-hole with 14.4 seconds left in overtime.
It was the only shot Ellis faced in the overtime period. He finished with 31 saves on 35 shots faced.
Kucherov was a real thorn in Buffalo’s side, as he had a goal and three assists for a four-point night. In 40 career games against the Sabres, he has 20 goals and 32 assists for 52 points.
The loss was the second time since Saturday the Sabres had a chance to jump into second place in the Atlantic Division, only to fail.
By getting three out of four points, Buffalo left the State of Florida with a .625 points percentage, good for third place in the Atlantic Division. The second place Detroit Red Wings are at .632.
The Montreal Canadiens are also at .625, but they’re in the No. 1 Wild Card spot, because Buffalo has the tie breaker. The second Wild Card spot belongs to the Boston Bruins at .607.
Five Atlantic Division teams are in the top-10 of the National Hockey League. Tampa Bay is second, Detroit is sixth, Buffalo is seventh, Montreal is eighth and Boston is 10th.
The NHL has two more nights of games before the Olympic break commences. Boston is in Florida on Wednesday, while Montreal visits the Winnipeg Jets, and Detroit is in Utah to face the Mammoth.
Then on Thursday, the Sabres host the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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