Buffalo doomed again by all-too-familiar second period woes
Score: Buffalo Sabres 4-7 Tampa Bay Lightning
Shots: BUF 25-31 TBL
Buffalo Sabres Goals: Kulich (15), Clifton (1); Tuch [ppg] (35), Lafferty (4)
Minnesota Wild Goals: Guentzel (39); McDonagh (4), Kucherov (35), Geekie (7), Lilleberg (1); Kucherov (36), Guentzel [ppg] (40)
Plus 1: Good First Period
In many respects Buffalo were actually the better team in the first period. The visitors outshot the hosts 11-5, and rung a couple of shots off the iron early on too from Quinn and Tuch, with Thompson getting foiled at point-blank range by goalie Johansson.
When Guentzel took advantage of a ricochet to put the Lightning up with less than four minutes to play in the first, it looked like another common theme for this Sabres team where they have more chance but fail to put them away only for an opponent to score instead.
However with less than 23 seconds on the clock, Kulich showed remarkable fight to get his stick in between a couple of defensemen to tap home the leveler from a Thompson cross-ice pass. Then with eight seconds left to play, good forechecking pressure created a turnover for Clifton to tap in for his first goal of the season. Kudos to Quinn who deked his way through the slot before sending a goalwards pass down on one knee. to beat Johansson.
Tampa backup Johansson’s last start was coincidentally also against the Sabres. That game had ended 3-2 to Buffalo in a shootout after twice the Sabres had come from behind. Tonight didn’t quite work out like that.
Minus 1: What Was That Second?
The Sabres’ issues with the long change in the second period are almost legendary. It had looked like it was somewhat under control during this recent purple patch, but tonight was just brutal.
Tampa dominated the ice with a 63.0% CF and 80% HDCF%, outshooting Buffalo 15-7 and tilting the ice heavily in their favor.
With Power injured [sounds like he will be out for the rest of the season, per Lindy Ruff after the game] the Sabres rolled with Bryson and Bernard-Docker as the third pair and both ended the night with a -2. Tampa also managed to do something that hadn’t happened for about a month, making Reimer look human again.
The Bolts were able to take advantage of poor zone exits by the Sabres, and there was even some question marks around a possible offsides that Ruff could have challenged, but after taking a timeout to buy his analysts some time, he decided to not question it. Wouldn’t have made a difference with shipping three other goals anyway.
Minus 2: Too Much To Overcome
The Sabres would need a fast start to try to overcome a 5-2 margin in the third, but instead Kucherov against showed why he is a Hart candidate picking off an errant cross-ice scooped pass by Bryson McLeod in front of Reimer and beating the goalie.
The Sabres got a 5-on-3 powerplay for 50 seconds thanks to old friend Zemgus Girgenson’s hold on Peterka, with Tuch taking advantage to score his 35th of the season.
However Guentzel got his 40th of the season as Tampa scored on a power play of their own to restore the four-goal margin. The scoring was not done however with Dahlin logging his 51st assist of the season with a perfectly banked deep pass off the end-boards for Lafferty to slam home.
Final Thoughts
The Sabres’ road slate is now complete, going 13-24-4 for the season and in the bottom five, and a big reason why they are going to be golfing in just about a week.
Comment of the Game: With Emil Lilleberg logging his first goal of his career against us, the comment of the game goes to Michael Closser.
For anyone wondering that was only the 2nd ‘First NHL goal’ we allowed this season. Islanders lead the league with 6.
https://morehockeystats.com/league/firstgoals
Buffalo come back from Florida with just one point, and now close out the season at KeyBank Center welcoming the Maple Leafs and the Flyers.