The Tampa Bay Lightning clawed their way back from an early two goal deficit and ended up defeating the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 4-3 in overtime on Saturday night. The win extends Tampa’s point streak to a whopping 11 (!) games and all but clinches them a playoff spot.
Just as they did on Thursday versus the lowly New York Islanders, the Lightning played down to their opponent early on Saturday. The 2013-14 Sabres are not very good. The Lightning made the Buffalo squad look a hell of a lot better than it truly is. Defensive miscues, missed assignments, and a lack of energy from the Bolts all contributed to give the Sabres an early possession advantage.
Here's tonight's TB/BUF possession chart courtesy of the good folks over at @ExtraSkater - pic.twitter.com/OzTBFkuNkc
— Michael Stuart (@HB_MikeStuart) March 30, 2014For whatever reason, the Bolts decided to show up and play with about three minutes left in the first period. Alex Killorn cut the deficit in half at the 17:52 mark before Steven Stamkos tied the game with only 14 seconds left in the frame. Killorn’s 16th of the year ended a lengthy goal drought for him, and was assisted beautifully by rookie Nikita Kucherov. A somewhat similar play, Stamkos’s 22nd of the year came as a result of some great work on the forecheck by JT Brown. The game was tied heading into the first intermission.
A four goal first period led to a scoreless second period, as goaltenders Ben Bishop and Matt Hackett stopped all shots fired their way. The game’s next goal, if you want to call it that, came at the 8:14 mark of the third. Steven Stamkos scored his second goal of the game, but unfortunately it was into his own net.
With Ben Bishop off waiting for a delayed penalty whistle, Stamkos accidently banked the puck off the boards and into the Lightning cage. Former Bolt Cory Conacher was the last Sabre to touch the puck, and so he was credited with his 7th goal of the year. That sequence was more than unusual, but it gave the Sabres a very important one goal lead with only 12 minutes left on the clock.
The Lightning tied the game only moments later when Ryan Callahan tipped home his 16th of the season, and fifth as a member of the Lightning, on a 5-on-3 advantage. A great feed from Teddy Purcell found Callahan right in the crease where he made no mistake. For those of you who’ve lost track, I have an update for you.
Callahan 5, St. Louis 0
— Michael Stuart (@HB_MikeStuart) March 30, 2014Callahan told reporters after the morning skate: "I'm really glad to be in Tampa. I couldn't have landed in a better spot."
— Damian Cristodero (@LightningTimes) March 29, 2014The tie game moved into an overtime period, and that’s when the Captain made up for his gaffe on Buffalo’s third goal. Perched in the circle on the powerplay, Stamkos slapped home a Valtteri Filppula (Phil Poola) feed to end the game. His second real goal of the contest was his 23rd of the year. It’s beyond remarkable that he’s been able to come back from a broken leg and produce at the level he has. Remember when some people were concerned that he would struggle without Marty? Those folks are damn quiet now.
Lightning C Steven Stamkos 9 G, 4 A in past 9 GP
— Scott Cullen (@tsnscottcullen) March 30, 2014While they didn’t play a complete game, the Lightning have to be happy that they found a way to win. The two points collected as a result of Sunday’s win are huge for the Bolts. As Montreal also won on Saturday, Tampa still sits two points behind the Canadiens for second place in the Atlantic Division but with two games in hand. If the Lightning manage to secure that second seed, they’ll have home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Considering the fact that the team has only lost eight games in regulation at the Forum this season, home ice advantage could be a huge boost.
The Lightning will have an opportunity to move past Montreal tomorrow evening, as they will hit the ice in Detroit for a contest with the Red Wings.
As always, thanks for reading.