FINAL: BUF 2 TBL 4
SHOTS: BUF 26 TBL 29
POWERPLAY: BUF 0/4 TBL 2/5
GOALS:
BUF: Matt Moulson (9) assists, Zemgus Girgensons and Taylor Fedun
TBL: Ondrej Palat (8) assists, Tyler Johnson and Jonathan Drouin
TBL: Ondrej Palat (9) assists, Nikita Nesterov and Vladislav Namestnikov
TBL: Nikita Kucherov (17) assists, Victor Hedman and Ondrej Palat
BUF: Evander Kane (11) assists, Jack Eichel and Justin Falk
TBL: Anton Stralman (2) assists, Valtteri Filppula and Brian Boyle
RECAP:
Early on in the first period, Taylor Fedun passed the puck up the ice to Zemgus Girgensons who then gave a nice cross crease pass to Matt Moulson to give Buffalo an early 1-0 lead.
The Sabres would then take two penalties and gave the Lightning a 5 on 3 powerplay and Tyler Johnson was able to find Palat back door who put it past Nilsson.
Anders Nilsson let out a huge rebound right to Ondrej Palat who then gave Tampa a 2-1 lead. That was Palat’s 2nd of the game and his 9th goal of the season.
Victor Hedman found Nikita Kucherov wide open beside the Buffalo net and Kucherov ripped it past Nilsson to give Tampa a 3-1 lead.
At the end of the 2nd period, Marcus Foligno and Victor Hedman had a fight. This was a nice job by Foligno getting Tampa’s best defenseman in the box for 5 minutes but unfortunately, Buffalo couldn’t score in the time Hedman was in the box.
Half way through the 3rd Eichel fed the puck to Evander Kane in the slot and Kane gave Buffalo some life and now it was 3-2.
Late in the 3rd Buffalo would take too many penalties and they were not able to tie the game. Anton Stralman scored on the empty net on the powerplay to seal the deal and the Sabres would lose this game 4-2.
This was a must win game for the Sabres, and once again the Sabres couldn’t win a must win game.
The Sabres face the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at 7:30 at the PNC Arena.
