In Stockholm Friday night, the Tampa Bay Lighting were the visitors in the Global Series match with the Buffalo Sabres.
Hometown here, Victor Hedman, had an assist in the win.
“I felt like we really played to our structure,” Hedman said. “We played the way we want to play. I think we kept them to 12 scoring chances, which is very good. … I think overall it was a good performance for our team. … Hearing the (Sweden) national anthem before an NHL game, that was super special. I was really focusing in on that flag and trying to keep the emotions in check.”
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves as the Lightning edged the hometown Sabres, 3-2.
“Just really happy that not only he plays well in the game, he gets a point and the team wins,” Lightning coach John Cooper said of Hedman. “It’s a little hat trick for Heddy.”
Sam Reinhart scored both goals for the Sabres.
“I think for a lot of the game, we played the way we wanted to, I think there was just a couple of instances when our tempo slowed down, we were a little disconnected and that led to their opportunities,” Reinhart said. “For the most part, I think when we were connected and supporting each other, we created a lot of chances for ourselves.”
Buffalo is 0-3-1 in their last four games.
“We’re looking forward to another great game tomorrow,” Hedman said. “Obviously we want to end with another win, and they obviously want to end on a high note. So tomorrow’s going to be another tough game, and we’ve just got to expect to bring our A-game.”
The Lightning goal scorers were Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn and Yanni Gourde.
“We kept our game really simple, we chipped the puck in and we were really good on the forecheck,” Gourde said. “That is something we have talked about in the past that our forecheck is our greatest asset and we have to use it. I think tonight was a good example of it.”
[WATCH: All Lightning vs. Sabres highlights | Complete Global Series coverage]
Swedish native son, Linus Ullmark, made 31 saves in the loss.
“We really feel a good spirit from them this week and the emotions of hearing your anthem at an NHL game were high,” Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger said. “I thought we came out of the gate in the right way. We didn’t do anything special with [the Europeans] It was business as usual for us tonight and we were doing everything to come out with the two points. We’re very disappointed with the result. We’ll come out fighting tomorrow because these guys are proud to be here at home and they want to change this storyline.”
Hedman, Rasmus Dahlin, Marcus Johansson, Victor Olofsson, and Johan Larsson all played in front of their countrymen in the game.
Buffalo’s Vladimir Sobotka was assisted off the ice in the first period after a hit.
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