Buffalo Sabres at Tampa Bay Lightning

· National Hockey League

Buffalo Sabres

35-19-6

Final
6 - 2

Tampa Bay Lightning

38-16-4

Sabres beat the Lightning 6-2 for their 3rd straight victory

Buffalo Sabres vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: Game Highlights

Zach Metsa had a goal and an assist, Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson also scored and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 36 saves to help Buffalo move within four points of the Atlantic Division-leading Lightning.

The Sabres improved to 16-2-1 in their past 19 on the road, ending Tampa Bay’s 10-game home winning streak.

Dominic James and Victor Hedman scored for Tampa Bay. The Lightning have lost consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 15-18.

Andrei Vasilevksiy, who was 17-0-1 in his previous starts, was pulled after allowing five goals on 14 shots in his first regulation loss since Dec. 18. Jonas Johansson came on in relief and stopped 20 shots.

Buffalo scored twice in a span of 50 seconds in the first period, both off the rush with Dahlin picking up his 12th of the season at 5:25 and Norris his first of the night at 6:15. Norris scored again on a deflection at 8:18, and Thompson made it 4-0 with 4:54 left in the first period.

Metsa scored 1:54 into the second period to end the night for Vasilevksiy, which marked the first time he has been pulled Oct. 21, 2024, at Toronto.

Up next Sabres: Host Vegas on Tuesday night.

Lightning: At Minnesota on Tuesday night.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Scoring Summary

Goal	1st Period 5:25	Rasmus Dahlin Goal (12) Wrist Shot, assists: Owen Power (14)
Goal	1st Period 6:15	Josh Norris Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Josh Doan (22), Zach Metsa (2)
Goal	1st Period 8:18	Josh Norris Goal (8) Tip-In, assists: Bowen Byram (21), Zach Benson (20)
Goal	1st Period 15:06	Tage Thompson Goal (32) Wrist Shot, assists: Peyton Krebs (20), Rasmus Dahlin (38)
Goal	2nd Period 1:54	Zach Metsa Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: none
Goal	2nd Period 16:03	Dominic James Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Oliver Bjorkstrand (18), Victor Hedman (14)
Goal	3rd Period 3:43	Alex Tuch Goal (24) Wrist Shot, assists: Rasmus Dahlin (39), Jack Quinn (26)
Goal	3rd Period 5:27	Victor Hedman Goal (1) Slap Shot, assists: Darren Raddysh (37)

Statistics

BUF		TB
14	Blocked Shots	5
16	Hits	28
2	Takeaways	6
35	Shots	38
1	Power Play Goals	0
5	Power Play Opportunities	3
20.0	Power Play Percentage	0.0
0	Short Handed Goals	0
0	Shootout Goals	0
31	Faceoffs Won	33
48.4	Faceoff Win Percent	51.6
16	Giveaways	11
6	Total Penalties	10
12	Penalty Minutes	28